Not In This Life
by Juliette Angel
Summary: Booth and Brennan try to ignore the fact that they are much more than work partners, but an unfortunate event happens that will make them comfront their feelings for one another. Warning: Hysterical laughter.
1. I'm Temperance Brennan

**A/N** This is happening after the final episode of Season One of _Bones_. I hope there will be more seasons to come, but it's not up to me, it's basically up to FOX, and since I don't trust them to keep great TV shows on schedule, well…

Also, I don't own anything related to Bones, even if I'd really, really love to have David Boreanaz all to myself. Who wouldn't? As a woman's POV, of course…

And please, give me reviews; an author's worst enemy is silence. Ja

XxXxX

_**Not In This Life** _

**Chapter one: I'm Temperance Brennan **

10:00am

The day after Temperance Brennan learned of her father being alive was a day like any other day. Booth was doing everything he could to find out anything about Max Keenan / Mathieu Brennan, and the squints were trying to be busy at anything because they felt so helpless, it was driving them crazy. They wanted to be there for their colleague, to support her, to listen to her, but only Angela seemed to know exactly what to say to her dear friend. It had been the worst week of Dr. Temperance Brennan's life, and at the same time, that week had brought everyone she loved closer to her, although she might not tell them yet.

Her brother Russ was very dear to her heart and she was glad that he was back in her life, even if they sort of felt strangers to themselves. Zack and Hodgins had been working their asses off all week to make sure they would have all the evidence they should have to try to figure out what had happened to Brennan's parents about 15 years ago. Even Dr. Goodman had been there for her, telling her she should get the week off, as if she'd really listen, but still, she had found it very kind of him to offer.

As Temperance was looking at herself in the mirror of her bathroom, she thought of the two people in her life she wouldn't be able to live without, and it was her sweet Angela, and Booth. Angela always knew what to say to her, even if Tempe didn't always want to hear it, it was most of the time, the truth. And Booth…what about Special Agent Seeley Booth?

Temperance started to brush her teeth and smiled at the thought of Booth. She had met him a little more then a year ago, and had hated him since they had exchanged their first words together. The nerve of him, the ego, the arrogance…She had hated his guts the first time around, and he had hated the fact that her intelligence always made her right 99 of the time. Of course, at that time, they weren't working on the same team: it was the FBI against the Jeffersonian on a big case regarding one of their own (the FBI's) who had committed a homicide. Booth didn't want to believe his colleague had committed such a horrible thing, and Brennan was always showing in his face the facts regarding his colleague about what he had done. Of course, she was right, and Booth, for some reason, preferred to direct his anger towards Brennan than himself, because he couldn't believe he had trusted his friend to tell him the truth about not murdering that girl. Usually, he had hunches about that type of men, women, murderers, and liars. He was angry with himself, but it was easier to blame the woman who had asked Cullen to get him off the case because his judgment was blinded by his friendship with the killer. Cullen hadn't removed Booth from the case, but it felt as if Brennan had slapped him in the face. Him, Booth, who always thought he was doing the right thing, was in fact blinded by the fact that this guy, the murderer, was an FBI buddy. This made him think about everything, and he had then decided to take a step back, and did as if he didn't know the killer. She had been right, his loyalty to his FBI colleagues had blinded his better judgment and he hadn't like that one bit. But she was one of the honest and truest people he had ever met, and he respected her for that.

After the case was closed, they hadn't spoken for about 5 months until Brennan came back from a trip and Booth cornered her in an airport letting her think that she really was under arrest for having non-authorized body remains in her bag. Booth knew it was the only way to get her attention, and she knew she would have showed him the front door of the Jeffersonian Institute if he had shown up there. It was a smart move, she had to give him that. But after all the murder cases they had solved this year, they grew closer, and even started to like each other, to respect each other. She had revised her thoughts about Booth by working with him closely day after day that he was in fact one of the most upright people she knew. Booth was now a good friend, he had just proven that the past week, and she even had to acknowledge that she became a better human because of him: he made her open her heart to the world, to feelings. Feelings about pain and loss, and friendship and even love.

It's not that she was the Tinman before, because she always had been feeling. The problem was that she had felt so much as a child, she had to make herself stop feeling or she wouldn't have ended up where she is today. Seriously. Everyone copes with difficult moments in their life the way they think they should cope, and she did what she thought she had to do. She put her heart in a box to make things easier. Temperance was 14 years old when everyone in her life abandoned her. Everyone. She could have started to steal, to use drugs, to sell her body to creeps but she didn't…she became a forensic-anthropologist. That has to say something about how strong that woman is.

Temperance looked at herself in the mirror, and then sighed. "I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan." She repeated to herself for the tenth time that morning. "I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan, forensic-anthropologist at the Jeffersonian Institute." She just couldn't erase the fact that her real name was Joy Keenan. "I'm Dr. Tempe-" A knock on the door interrupted her. She looked at what she was wearing (a white t-shirt and blue boxers) and decided that she was decent enough to answer the door. It wasn't Russ like she had thought it would be, it was Booth. He froze in the doorway, but only for a tiny moment, because of how his favorite forensic-anthropologist looked in her white shirt and boxers that made her legs look like they were 10 feet tall. Her hair was all messed up and curls were everywhere, but her eyes were the ones that made him recollect himself quite fast. They looked 100 years old.

"Hey Bones!" He joyfully said to her with a smile while entering her place. "I almost had a stroke when I saw at 9:30 that you weren't at your desk at the Jeffersonian, so I thought I'd stop by." She went in the kitchen and took two cups out of the cupboard and poured coffee in them. Milk and no sugar. "Thanks." Booth sat on a chair of the kitchen table and looked at the woman in front of him. _She looks like she aged 5 years in one night, _Booth thought "Are you okay?" He asked out of concern.

"I'm fine. Thanks." She had a weak smile on her face. "I've been better, but I'll survive. Plus, I have a headache. I think I drank too much last night."

"Where's Russ?" Asked Booth, looking around and not seeing his partner's brother's stuff there.

"I don't know, I think he said something last night before I went to bed about him not wanting to be a burden, and that he'd check himself in a hotel, wanting a place for himself and everything. I didn't argue." She took a sip of coffee and went to fetch some Tylenols.

"Look Bones, why don't you go take a shower or something, and I'll cook something for you alright?" He took a sip of his coffee and stood up, walked in the kitchen and opened the refrigerator's door. "Good, you have eggs."

"I'm not a child Booth, I can cook for myself." She started to object, but Booth didn't want to hear anything.

"Would you just let me do this for you, Bones?" As Booth was saying those words, he pushed Temperance towards the bathroom with his hand on her back.

"Yes, but-"

"No buts." Booth showed her the door with his hand. "Go clean yourself up!"

"But…"

"Would you stop with the buts already?" He said to her with superiority, taking her by the shoulders and walking her to the bathroom. "Now, will you wash yourself or do I have to do it for you?" Booth understood the full meaning of the words he had just said and froze, and he was pretty sure that he started to blush too, as Brennan turned around to face him with astonishment all over her face.

"Booth!…" She was half-smiling though; he had thought she would kick his ass for it.

"Bones…" He started babbling. "It's not…I didn't…" He wanted the floor to spread wide open under his feet, and jump.

"As I said earlier, I'm not a child." She gravely said to him, just loving the way he looked right now, secretly wishing he hadn't offered his services to give her a bath. He just stood there, staring at the floor, at his feet, basically staring at everything _but_ the woman in front of him.

"Bones, I know that…" _I know, believe me…_

"You have to be careful of what you're saying to me Booth…" she started to say to him, with a twinkle of mischief in her eyes, "because I could take you up on your offer." And with that, she turned around and headed for the bathroom, laughing to herself, knowing perfectly well she just left Booth standing there with his mouth wide open.

_What did Bones just say to me? _Booth thought to himself while preparing some omelet and trying to forget a naked Bones in the shower. _Did I hear right? She was joking, of course. I know she was joking. Was she? Temperance Brennan making a joke? Really? Of course, she was only kidding. Come on Booth, she was kidding. She knew you had put your foot in your mouth, and she just wanted to make it a bit worse. Yeah, that's it; she was making fun of you. _

He heard the water stop, and poured himself another cup of coffee. The omelet was almost done when Tempe got out of the bathroom wearing only a towel and going straight to her bedroom to change. _She wants the death of me. _His cell phone rang and it was Cullen, there was a dead body arriving for them at the Jeffersonian at 13:00. He told him they would be there in time, and hung up.

Tempe got out about 2 minutes later wearing a blue-green tank top that really matched her eyes and a beige skirt.

"Now that's my girl! You look 5 years younger! It did you good." She responded by a smile.

"Mmmm, it smells good." She said to Booth, who put everything in a plate and sat down to eat. "I actually didn't think I was that hungry, but now that I am smelling the food, I can say that I am!" She took a bite. "That's good Booth. I didn't really picture you as a good cook."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but it's only eggs. Everybody can do eggs."

"I can't, I always overcook them. I usually eat cereals and French toasts." She said as a matter of fact to Booth.

"I thought you didn't eat breakfast, being always at work and everything."

"I do, when I'm here, or I just grab a cup of coffee and a muffin at the Jeffersonian cafeteria."

"Workaholic." He teased.

"Hey, workaholic to you too!"

"Hehehe. I know." And with that he took the last bite of his culinary miracle omelet. "What would we do without work, huh?"

"I prefer not to think about that." Her work was her passion; she didn't have any other passion in her life…yet.

"Yeah, you're right, it will probably cause us nightmares." He stood up, took Tempe's plate, and put it in the dishwasher. "It's the best invention ever." Booth said thinking of the dishwasher.

"I have to say it's a pretty great invention, although I have to disagree with you about the best one ever invented-"

"Bones, it's not that I _really_ think it's the best invention _ever_, I'm just saying that I really love dishwashers because I don't have to wash the dishes anymore!" _Why do I even care to explain? _She was able to exasperate him, but at the same time, Bones wouldn't be Bones if she wasn't that way.

"Then why did you say it was the best invention ever if you don't believe it?"

"Bones, it's an expression of speech." Booth was about to give up.

"Oh, okay."

"Now I have to go" Booth started to walk towards the door. "I prepared some papers for you and your brother, you know, to make sure you won't have any troubles in the future about using the name Temperance and Russell Brennan. It's just formalities, really." He saw the shadow coming back in her eyes.

"Thanks."

"Nah, forget about it. It's nothing. It's the least I could do. Everything is taken care of, you and Russ will just have to sign here and there."

"Thank you." She gratefully said to Booth. It was the first time he had seen her say something with so much sincerity in her eyes, and in her voice. He was touched.

"Sure." At this moment, he thought of how fascinating it was to see a woman like Temperance Brennan look so vulnerable.

"No, I meant thank you, for everything…for the past week, for you being there for me…" Tempe squeezed his arm affectionately and he took his chance by taking her in his arms.

"Anytime." He pulled her closer to him.

She couldn't remember the last time that it felt so nice to be in someone else's arms. It just felt so good, and so right, like nothing could ever happen to her anymore, she was safe, protected. She let herself relax and just enjoy the embrace. Booth's strong arms were around her while one hand was also in her hair. She didn't want to brake the embrace, her, Temperance Brennan, who's always afraid to show some feelings. She just took a deep breath and let the moment be. As she did so, smells of soap and aftershave overpowered any other odour near by, everything smelled of Booth. _He smells really good._ She thought.

On the other hand, Booth was starting to have non-professional ideas about his female partner, and the fact that she was so close to him, that she had just gotten out of the shower and smelled so clean and fresh, and that she was actually letting herself melt in his arms was a bit too much for now. Booth loved having her in his arms like that, and he was happy to see that she didn't try to run, or that her body didn't stiff against his as he pulled her very close to him, it was actually quite well adjusting, and it sort of freaked him out for a second.

Nobody knows who broke the embrace first, it wasn't really important, and as Booth looked into Temperance's eyes, he saw about one million different emotions. She had tears in her eyes, but at the same time her mouth was curled up in a smile. A tear dropped down on her left cheek and he brushed it off with his thumb.

"Hey, Bones." He soothingly said to her. "It's going to be alright." And with that he gently kissed her forehead.

"I know." She simply answered.

"Come on, we have a dead body waiting for us." Booth joyfully said to Tempe, hoping it would make her smile. She did. "Now, that's better!"

"You Agent Booth know just what to say to cheer up a girl." She teased him.

"Yep! _dead body_, it works every time." And with that he took the keys, and drove them both to the Jeffersonian Institute.

**(TBC…)**

There will be more action in the near future. I just like to establish where the characters stand. ja


	2. Meet Julianne Edwards

**Chapter two:** Meet Julianne Edwards

Before running out of her apartment to Booth's black SUV, Temperance had thrown a matching blouse over her tank top. She was grateful to have a new case to concentrate on hoping it would get her mind off of her personal life for a while.

As she and Booth walked into the lab of the Jeffersonian Institute around noon, she saw that the dead body had already arrived, because the Squints were already working on the poor lifeless form. Brennan walked up the stairs, after entering her ID card, and put on the navy lab suit and surgical gloves her apprentice was giving her.

"What do we have Zach?" She asked him as she examined the body closely.

"Good morning to you Dr. Brennan, and to you too Agent Booth." Zach was always very polite to Dr. Brennan, which he respected immensely. He also wanted to have a brotherly bond with Booth, but whatever he did, he just didn't do it the right way, like the time he wanted to talk to Booth about sexual positions and Booth told him to never ask him again about that or would get his gun out and shoot him right between the eyes.

"Good morning Zach." Tempe answered, and Booth only nodded back to the young man with a sign of the head and a wave of the hand.

"The victim is a female Caucasian of approximately 30 years of age. A man and his dog found her near an abandoned house in the suburbs up north at 04:15. The black Labrador came back from around the old mansion with a bone in his mouth. The bone in question was the right humerus of the victim. When he saw this, the master of the dog asked him to show him where he had find the bone, and it is then that he saw the body. About half of it was still buried in the ground. You can see Dr. Brennan that the upper body has been damaging by little animals like raccoons or cats. Not much of her face is still there. She's been dead for about one year."

Angela, who had stayed silent the whole time her colleague had done his speech, started to talk.

"I've started to sketch her face, but only from what is still left. I'll do my best."

"I know you will Angela, you _are_ the best." Angela smiled at Temperance and knew that when her friend said something resembling a compliment, it was because she really believed it. Then Dr. Brennan addressed herself to the guys.

"Zach, Hodgins, the bones will need to be cleaned. We need to give our Jane Doe her real name." As she said those words, everybody turned around and went to work. After a few hours of hard labor, the bones were cleaned up and Angela was able to draw Jane Doe with the remains of the skull. Booth and the Squints did their research, sent the sketch to the FBI, and Booth received a call from Cullen, and got the 411 on Jane Doe. They all got around Angela's 3-D image computer, watching the face of the victim, to listen to the story of the victim.

"Her name is Julianne Edwards," Booth started to say, "28 years old, reported missing on July 5th 2003. She was on her honeymoon, cruising from San Francisco to Santiago. The husband reported her missing near Mexico after he woke up one morning and couldn't find her anywhere on the ship. It sounds like it was chaos on the cruise ship that day, everybody had looked on the ship but they couldn't find the girl, and after a few hours of looking and searching, the captain had contacted the president of the cruise ship company and for some reason they decided to move on and continue the cruise as planned. The husband, George White, yelled that they should stay in place and look for his wife in the Pacific Ocean, that they should ask the FBI to come and do an investigation, but nothing of the sort was done, and since they were in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, the president of the cruise ship company ordered to sail off and that is what happened."

"That's awful." Angela softly said. "How can you disappear in the middle of the Pacific Ocean in 2003, die in 2005 and end up behind an old house about to collapse?" She didn't understand what had happen to her.

"Don't worry Ange, we're going to find the truth to what happened to Julianne Edwards." Tempe said to her friend, knowing Angela often sympathized with the victims.

"I know-" Angela started to say, but was cut by Dr. Jack Hodgins.

"I think Government Conspiracy." Hodgins said, with sparks in his eyes.

"Oh, for Pete's sake…" Booth murmured, but it didn't stop Hodgins.

"She was kidnapped at night by the CIA, and tortured for information, because she was sleeping with Bill Clinton's butler and learned a lot of things she wasn't supposed to."

"I think he's getting confused with Marilyn Monroe's death." Angela said back to what seemed like a deaf Jack Hodgins.

"She was their prisoner for 2 years and it's only then that they found out she really didn't know anything important, they killed her and buried her behind the Amythiville look-alike old mansion-" Hodgins was so into finding Government Conspiracies in Julianne Edwards's case that he had not seen everyone leave the place around him to go elsewhere. "Where is everybody?" _Ingrates_. He thought to himself. _One day, they'll know I'm right._

"That guy really watched The X-Files too much." Said Booth to Tempe when they entered her office.

"I don't know what that means." It was now a very well known phrase to everyone close to Dr. Temperance Brennan.

"That surprises me." Booth sarcastically said back, comfortably seated on the sofa of Brennan's office. "Come one Bones! The X-Files? Who hasn't heard of Mulder and Scully?"

"I haven't." She was dead serious. Booth looked desperate.

"It's a TV show that became a real cult among the fans in the 90's. It lasted almost a decade." Booth started to explain to Tempe. "Special Agent Fox Mulder and Special Agent Dana Scully were FBI partners assigned to the X-Files; cases that nobody wanted because they were too weird, spooky, un-natural, or even UFO related. All of that with a twist of Government Conspiracies." Booth smiled, thinking that Hodgins probably have Mulder's _I Believe_ poster in a room somewhere at home.

"Unidentified Flying Objects related?" Repeated Temperance, having trouble imagining anyone liking something about UFOs. "Do people really believe they exist?"

"Some do, some don't. But it was not what was important, the show was clever, smart, and people loved it." _I loved it._

"Do you believe in UFOs Booth?" Temperance asked the question as if she was asking him if he still believed in Santa Claus. She had a crooked smile on the right corner of her mouth.

"No, I don't Bones. But I'm open to the possibility that they could." Booth watched her as she was suddenly silent, and was sure she was thinking about the possibility that she could believe in them too. Her face then became resolute.

"I don't."

"Of course you don't. I never thought you did." He smiled back at her, but for some reason, she was pissed.

"Everybody thinks I'm not open minded!" She sat on the chair behind her desk and looked straight at him, not blinking. What pissed her off more was that _he_ thought she didn't have an open mind.

"Well, Bones " Booth started to get uncomfortable. "It's… because… you don't do anything to make people think otherwise." He knew he was about to get crucified.

"False." She seriously said. "I have an open mind, just not about the same things ordinary people have. I've traveled to _a lot_ of places in my life, and I've learned _plenty_ about other religions and cultures, and _never_ have I condemned the people who choose to believe in them. Never." Booth had thought wrong, and he now knew it, she could see it in his face. She wanted to add that she had an open mind in bed, but decided not to_. It's none of his business._

"True." He honestly answered back. "You're right Bones, you are open to other cultures and religions, just not about spooky stuff."

"I'm a scientist, I need facts. And I don't see the interest of believing in extra-terrestrial life."

"It's entertainment Bones!" Booth stood up and walked towards her. "And what did you do with your spare time in the 90's?"

"I didn't have any spare time Booth." She looked at him, now realizing that he didn't really know what her life had been like as a teen besides her parent's story. "I had nobody to pay for school, my grandfather was not rich, and I had to work at a coffee shop to pay for college. So when I wasn't studying, I was working. I didn't know what spare time was." And then she stated the obvious. "I still don't know what spare time is."

"Yeah, well, obviously, you don't become a Forensic-Anthropologist by partying and drinking beer every night." Booth said out loud but more to himself actually.

"No, you don't." Tempe then added with a smile. "You become a sniper and then an FBI Agent."

Booth acted as if he was insulted by the remark, but then he let out his big charming smile. "Exactly." And with that Tempe giggled. "But what good does it do Bones if you burn the candle on both sides and end up not being able to enjoy the simple joys of life?"

"I don't know what the simple joys of life are Booth." Temperance sadly said back. "My work is my joy."

"Call a friend, ask Angela to do something fun with you this week-end. She's a lively woman, you'll have a great time."

"I always have a good time with Angela. I like her."

"Thanks Sweetie." Angela had just walked by Tempe's office when she heard her say those words. "I love you too. If I were a lesbian, you'd be my girl."

"Ladies, ladies…" Booth started to say, having non-catholic pictures in his head of the two Jeffersonian women in front of him.

"You're picturing us having sex, aren't you?" Angela had asked a question, but it was more a statement. She was devilishly happy to see the embarrassment in Booth's posture.

"Why would he picture you two having sex?" Temperance innocently asked.

"Not me and him Sweetie." Angela rectified for her female friend who couldn't see the obvious sometimes. "You and me." Temperance looked horrified.

"You and me?" She turned to Booth. "Why would you picture me and Angela having sex?" Booth didn't know what to say. He started babbling.

"No…I don't…I…No…it's just that…"

"Let me explain this to you Sweetie." When the subject of discussion was sex, Angela always seemed to be the expert, and she just took the role very seriously. "Men's biggest fantasy is to see two women having hot monkey sex just in front of them. They love it. They find it sensual. They just find it very horny to see the opposite sex making hot love and please each other."

"I don't get it." Temperance started to say, very seriously. "Seeing two men having sex doesn't get me horny."

Angela started to laugh, and Booth jumped on his feet, having a disgusting look on his face.

"Come on!" Booth cried out loud. "Two men having sex is not something I want to think about!"

"We know, you are thinking about a naked Dr. Brennan and a naked Angela." Hodgins had just walked by and couldn't resist to but in.

"I never said that!" Booth still tried to deny it.

"I'm starting to think about them myself…" Dr. Jack Hodgins almost look dreamy eyes.

"See!" Said Angela to Temperance as a told-you-so. "It's every man's thing."

"Every man." Hodgins reinforced the statement.

"This is insane…" Booth murmured to himself, not believing the conversation that was going on here.

"What's going on?" Asked Zach, standing by the door.

"Why don't we just invite Dr. Goodman too for god's sake?" Said Booth, with a discontent air.

"Somebody said my name?" And at that moment all the Squints were in Brennan's office, plus Dr. Goodman. Booth didn't answer the question. "Why is everybody in here? Was there a meeting I wasn't aware of?" He suspiciously looked at the gang.

"No, Dr. Goodman." Hodgins said back. "We were just talking about Booth picturing Dr. Brennan and Angela, having sex."

Then Zach, Booth and Dr. Goodman spoke at the same time:

"Why would he do that?" Asked Zach, who seemed as clueless as Tempe was before.

"I never said that!" Booth retorted once more.

"For goodness's sake!" Said Dr. Goodman, astonished.

"Why would he picture them?" Asked Zach for the second time.

"Zach, honey." Angela walked towards him and took him by the shoulders. "Don't you know it's every man's fantasy to see two, or more for that matter, women naked having sex?"

"It is?" Poor Zach was very clueless. The other three men looked at each other, trying not to laugh.

"It is." Angela said back. "Even two women kissing make the cut."

"Really…" Answered Zach, thoughtful.

"I almost pity you honey." Angela turned to look at her female friend. "We could show him Sweetie?" She added, with a wide smile.

"Sure. Do I have to go get my Chantelle lingerie?" Tempe playfully added.

"That's it!" Booth said looking at all the Squints. "You are worse than I thought!" And with that he got out of the room, red as a lobster. "Call me when you are willing to work!" They all assumed it was directed to Tempe.

"So…what about that kiss?" Hodgins asked, glad to see some dirty action happening.

"In _your_ dreams…" Angela told him, walking out of the office, laughing.

"Yeah, I had to try…"

"But-" Zach started to say, but he was cut by Dr. Goodman.

"Young man, there are many things you need to learn." And with that they all got out of Brennan's office, leaving her smiling. She sat down behind her desk and started to read Julianne Edwards's file. _What happened to you? _She thought. After a few minutes, she was cut out of her thoughts when someone knocked on her office door.

"Dr. Temperance Brennan?" A man said. She didn't know him

"Yes." She got up.

"I got a call from a Dr. Goodman, telling me to meet you here, concerning my wife, Julianne Edwards?"

TBC…


	3. Mr George White

**A/N** Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. I wrote last chapter at work at 03:00 in the morning while I cared for the only baby I had in the NICU (who was in recovery by the way), so I didn't have a lot of work to do. Don't ask me what happened that day to have only one baby, I have no idea.

For those of you who wonders: yes, I know where I'm going with this story.

I'm glad I was able to entertain you; your positive reviews gave me strength to write on, so thanks! I'm very, very grateful. Keep on reviewing, or else I tend to think nobody is reading.!

As usual, I don't own any of this, and I'm not getting paid to do it, even if I'd take the extra money. Who wouldn't? Life is expensive…or is it only mine?

ja

Warning: language.

XxXxX

**Chapter three: Mr. George White**

_Jeffersonian Institute_

_18h00 _

Temperance looked at the man standing by her office's door. He was about 35 years old, 6 feet, light brown hair, green eyes, and a charming smile.

"Of course, Mr. George White, is it?" She walked towards him and shook his hand. "I'm Dr. Temperance Brennan." She turned around to sit behind her desk and showed him the chair he could sit on. "Please." He silently sat down, and waited for Brennan to speak. Before she started to say anything, he saw her text a message on her cell phone to someone and then hang up. _Booth, Mr. George White just arrived in my office. T.B._

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of such bad news Mr. White, but I'm afraid we just recovered your wife's body." Temperance could see a dark shadow passing through his eyes. He sighted and looked at his hands.

"I always knew she was dead." He took a deep breath and looked into Brennan's eyes again. "I always knew she died that day, that something dreadful had happen on that fucking boat." His tone of voice grew louder as he remembered the event of that day. "Nobody seemed to care! They all looked at me as if I was a fucking lunatic. Things like that usually don't happen in real life, you know? It was like I was living a dream, or I should say a fucking nightmare!" He closed his eyes and massaged the skin between his eyes. "I'm sorry Dr. Brennan, it just gets frustrating. The worst thing is not knowing what happened."

"I know." _Believe me…I know. _"But the thing is Mr. White, your wife is dead, it's true, but she didn't die that day." He looked confused. "She died about one year ago." She took a pause for him to register what she was saying.

"I don't understand Dr. Brennan…" He just stood there with his mouth half open.

"I don't either, but I intend to find out what happened to-" She stopped as she saw Booth standing in the doorway.

"And she always does." Stated Agent Booth, who accusingly stared at the husband. Tempe secretly smiled, and introduced the two men to each other.

"Mr. George White, this is Special Agent Seeley Booth." The man turned his head and nodded to Booth before standing up, wanting to shake Booth's hand, but the FBI Agent stared at it as if Mr. White had leprosy. "Booth…" Started to say Tempe, just a second before he finally decided to shake the man's hand. She thought it was very impolite of him, but she knew that the husband was the prime suspect in his wife's murder and that it was probably the explanation of Booth's behavior. Booth walked around the husband and sat on Brennan's desk, blocking her view from where she was sitting.

"Booth!" She stood up, annoyed. "My desk isn't a chair, as I've already told you, and more than once."

"You don't have another chair for me to sit on Bones." He stated to Brennan between his teeth, staring at her with a _now-is-not-the-time_ look. She stared at him with a frustrated look, but didn't reply. "Mr. White, would you tell us why you spent four months in jail from August 1st, 2003 to December 1st, 2003?"

"Ah…so this is why I got the look…" George White said. "Of course, it's because I assaulted Andrew Smith, the fucking-son-of-a-bitch President of the West Coast Cruise Ship Company." He smiled, and then added. "I trashed his office, gave him a black eye, and broke his nose." He seemed to be proud of that.

"I see." _Impulsive_.

"It's not like the bastard didn't deserve it, you know." He added, to make them understand why he did it. "I had just married the woman of my life, my soul-mate. We were on our honeymoon for god's sake! We were happy. It was supposed to be the happiest moment of my life, and it turned out a nightmare."

"What happened exactly?" Booth saw that the husband was getting uncomfortable, as he grabbed the chair's arms as if he was about to break them. _Nervous_. He thought.

"We went to sleep at 11:00 pm, Julie-" He stopped, whipping the sweat off of his forehead with his shirtsleeve. "Julianne took some sleeping pills because she had insomnia, and I slept throughout the night. When I woke up at 7:00 am, she wasn't there. I assumed she had woken up earlier and went downstairs for a cup of coffee or an orange juice. I took a shower, and when I went to look for her, I couldn't find her anywhere." He shifted his gaze from Booth to Dr. Brennan and saw sympathy in her eyes. _Very beautiful eyes, _he thought.

"What time was is when you found out she was missing?" Booth asked, not liking how George White was staring into his partner's eyes.

"About 8:00-8:15 am."

"And then…" The Agent got his attention back. _Stop looking at her that way._

"Then I went to the waiter, described Julie and asked if she had been seen that morning. Nobody seemed to have. I ran everywhere, asked everyone I crossed, but nobody knew anything. No one had seen Julie. I panicked and went to see the Captain, who stopped the ship and ordered a search to find her. Everybody on the staff looked for her, for about five hours, and then he had to call the President of West Coast Cruise. The Captain explained what had happen, what had been done to find her, and that they just couldn't. Mr. Smith said she could have drown anywhere the night before and ordered that the ship moved forward with the cruise because there was nothing they could do, and that there was one thousand and five hundred people on the ship who paid and wanted a nice vacation. I would have strangled him right there, if he hadn't been on the other side of the phone, thousands of miles away."

"Do you know anyone who hated your wife Mr. White?" Booth asked. "Any ex boyfriends of hers?"

"Not that I know of…we've been together for about six years and I never heard anything bad about Julianne. Everybody loved her." There was sadness in his voice. "I have no idea who would have hurt her."

"Does the old Robertson Mansion means anything to you?" Booth saw White shrug and said no with his head. "It's an old abandoned house about 5 miles North from here. It's where she was found." He explained to White.

"I have no idea." _He's telling the truth or he's a damn good liar_, Booth thought.

"Okay, thank you for your time Mr. White." Booth stood up, as did Tempe, who had let Booth do the interrogation alone, and shook his hand. Booth stared into George White's eyes as he tightened his grip on his hand and added: "Of course, you'll stay where we can reach you if needed, and you don't leave the country." Booth almost had a threatening look.

"I wouldn't dream of it." White answered back to Booth, annoyed. He then turned his gaze towards Temperance and smiled. "It was nice to meet you Dr. Brennan." He shook her hand a bit too long, which annoyed Booth.

"Likewise." She politely answered back. When Mr. White left her office, Booth turned back to Brennan with a smirk. "What?" She innocently asked.

"Because a good looking man enters the office and makes a confession about loving his dear late wife and wanting to kill the bastard who stopped the investigation, and all that while battling his eyes, you think he is innocent."

"I do think he is innocent, but him being good looking has nothing to do with it." Tempe answered back, offended. "You know me better than that Booth."

"So you do think he's good looking?" Booth tried to have a neutral tone in his voice, and tried to look as if he didn't really care about her answer, but he wasn't very convincing. _Why am I not asking her why she thinks he is innocent?_

"Who wouldn't?" Said Angela, who had seen the man leave the Lab, and had run to Brennan's office right away. "He is _hot_!"

"But is he guilty? _That_ is the question." Booth tried to put the subject back on to whether or not the widow is innocent or guilty.

"I think he's gorgeous, yes." Tempe honestly said to her female friend. "He has a great smile, and kind eyes."

"And I would add a nice butt too!" Angela joyfully stated as she took a sip of the mokkaccino she was drinking. Booth rolled his eyes to the roof.

"He could be a killer, Ladies! A **k-i-l-l-e-r**." _I'm talking to walls._

"He was fairly tall too. I like tall men." Tempe spoke as if Booth hadn't said a word.

Booth then murmured to the girls, imitating Gollum in The Lord Of The Rings, _"Murderer…"_ behind their backs, but it didn't seem to do any effect of them. _I give up. _He thought.

Temperance walked towards Angela and both of them looked at the door where George White had just disappeared. "I think he has a great ass." Angela stood by her first impression.

"Everybody thinks I have a great ass." Hodgins said back to Angela, grinning.

"I wasn't talking about your ass Jack. I was talking about the ass of the man who just left Brenn's office."

"His name is George White." Tempe practically stated to Angela.

"George White, that's a nice name." Angela was all dreamy eyes.

"George White, that sounds gay." Said Hodgins, who was offended by the two women ignoring him, but mostly by Angela. He looked at Booth who had the _don't-ask-me_ look all over his face.

"He's not gay, he was married to Julianne Edwards." Tempe matter-of-factly said back to Hodgins. You could always count on Dr. Brennan to state the truth.

"Good!" Said Angela, smiling. "The other woman is out of the picture, which leaves me liberty to act." She turned to Tempe. "Do you mind Sweetie if I take him? Or did you want him for yourself?" Angela looked like a child in front of a plate full of sweets.

"You go ahead Ange." Tempe didn't see Booth's victory smile behind her. "I don't mix work with pleasure." For some reason, Booth wasn't smiling anymore. "And we shouldn't forget that he could be a murderer. Be careful." This seemed to cheer him up again.

"Someone at least came to her senses!" Stated Booth, happily, from the back of Brennan's office.

"Yeah, you're right." Sadly answered Angela to Tempe. "He could be a psychopath." She sighted. "I've already pictured him and me taking a long, warm, bubble bath." Angela was all dreamy eye again. Zach passed by them and stopped, but he hadn't heard half of what Angela was saying.

"Who's taking the bath now? You and Dr. Brennan?" Both women had their eyes out of their sockets while they stared at Zach. Hodgins and Booth looked at each other, nodding in agreement that it was a very nice picture.

"No!" Angela and Tempe said simultaneously.

"Dr. Brennan and Agent Booth?" Zach then asked. Booth almost choked as he heard the young man's suggestion.

"Only in my dreams Honey." Sadly answered Angela.

"Well, Booth did offer to give me a bath this morning..." The words came out of Brennan's mouth before she could stop herself.

"Bones!" Booth was outraged. Tempe looked at him with an _I'm sorry_ look upon her face.

Angela choked while she took a sip of her coffee, spilling it all over the floor. Dr. Hodgins dropped on the floor the manila folder he had in his hands, and Zach just stood there with his mouth open. Booth couldn't believe this was happening again, but before he could say anything to defend himself Angela spoke.

"I knew it!" She triumphly cried.

"You don't know anything…" Booth started to say, negatively shaking his head. "It's out of context." He wasn't about to let history repeat itself.

"How can it be out of context when you offer someone to bathe her?" Angela defiantly asked. "Did you offer or not?"

"Yes, but-" He started to explain, but was cut by Hodgins.

"A very beautiful girl -tall and blonde- gave me a sponge bath once in Alaska. It was very nice." Both girls had crossed arms and an annoyed look, while Booth and Hodgins were smiling their teeth out.

"There are baths made out of sponges?" Naïvely asked Zach, trying to picture how it could scientifically hold water. Everybody tried not to burst out laughing to spare the poor young man's pride.

"Zach Addy! Really! Sometimes you discourage me!" Said Hodgins. "You are such a genius that it makes you the stupidest person I know. You need to get out more man!" Jack really liked Zach, but sometimes he thought he was a poor excuse as a man. He really didn't have a clue about women. "She gave me a bath, _using_ a sponge!" He then explained to his friend and colleague.

"Oh…" Zach thought this was making more sense. He was not offended one bit by what Hodgins had said to him, since the doctor had acknowledged the fact that he was a genius.

"But wait a minute!" Angela cried out, remembering why this conversation had first started. She turned back to Booth. "So you voluntarily offered your services to Brenn?" She was smiling widely and proud of herself. Booth was very, very, uncomfortable.

"It's not like that Angela, I know what you're thinking." Temperance wanted to rescue Booth, feeling guilty for not being able to shut up when needed. "He came by my place this morning. I had just woken up a few minutes earlier, and I was hangover from drinking beer last night with Russ, and when I opened the door, I looked like crap." Booth wanted to add that she kind of looked sexy, but he decided that it really wasn't the time to do so. He was in enough deep shit as it was.

"What were you wearing?" Angela asked, as if she was watching a Soap Opera. Temperance looked at her weirdly.

"I don't remember…a pajama I guess."

"A white T-shirt and blue boxers." Stated Booth. _Shit!_

"Casual." Said Angela, taking note that Booth remembered how her friend had looked. "Go on…"

"So, I felt like crap and looked like crap and he offered to make me eggs while I go wash myself." She looked at Booth for acquiescing. He finished the story for her.

"But she got stuck in the kitchen babbling about being able to make food for herself, so I asked her if she could go take a bath all by herself, or if I had to do it for her?"

"What did you say?" Angela eagerly asked, watching both of them like a hawk, not wanting to miss a thing. Booth and Brennan both opened their mouth to speak but no sound came out of either. Temperance avoided her friend's look, and Booth brushed a hand in his hair staring at the ceiling. Angela had a huge smile on her face, while Hodgins giggled.

"Really…" _Interesting. _Angela thought_. But enough teasing for today. I don't want to push them too far if they aren't ready for it. I'd like to, but…Brenn will kick my ass, and Booth will probably shoot me if I don't stop right now, I see it in their faces. _Angela stared into Tempe's eyes, letting her know she was done. _But only for now, I'm not forgetting this._

Booth seemed to be glad the questioning was over, and he jumped on his feet, staring at his watch. "Well, it's not that I'm not enjoying myself here with all the Q&A quiz, but I have to go resuscitate a plastic doll." The second he was done with that sentence, Angela and Tempe stared at each other, and then shrugged. But as Booth walked by Hodgins, he saw that the man had a smirk on his face.

"A plastic doll…?" Hodgins started to say teasingly.

"Don't even think of it!" Booth warningly said to Jack, pointing a finger in the doctor's face. "I have my CPR re-certification tonight." He turned back to Brennan, Angela standing beside her, both women smiling and waving him goodbye. Booth took a deep breath, trying to dismiss the look on both of their faces, and said to his partner: "I'll get the list of everyone who was on the cruise ship the day Julianne Edwards disappeared, and I'll fax it to you. We'll start first thing in the morning."

"That's fine by me." Tempe seriously answered back. "Now, go resuscitate your doll." She mischievously added. Booth grinned back at her.

"Here we go again…" Booth was shaking his head in disbelief.

"Yeah!" Proudly added Hodgins to what Brennan was saying. "Give her a kiss for me."

"But remember…" Angela wasn't about to let this opportunity slip out of her hands. "Always protect yourself."

Booth sighted and shook his head negatively for the third time that day. He then smiled and walked out of the museum.

"I don't understand what just happened." All three heads turned towards Zach and stared at him. Then, they let out a deep breath that meant defeat over rescuing the young man to the real world, and they went back to work.

**(TBC)**


	4. Heat Wave

**A/N** I'm posting this 4th chapter because I gave myself a kick in the butt. I was very sad about the lack of reviews of my 3rd chapter, and wasn't sure I'd write this one since I said to myself: _"Why bother? Nobody is reading."_

So, if you are indeed reading and want to know the rest of this story, please review, because it's the only way I know you are reading. And it's the only way my muse will help me write the words for a next chapter. Please, review.

As usual, I don't own anything about Bones, except this FanFic.

Thank you Gayle for the beta.

**Warning:** language and mature subject matter.

XxXxX

Chapter four: Heat Wave 

It was about 5:00 in the morning when Temperance Brennan woke up all sweaty and sticky. She moaned, looked at the clock and decided to get up since it was about the tenth time that night that she had stared at the clock. She walked into the kitchen and looked outside, it was sunny and the sky was a perfect blue, but you could smell the humidity in the air. She turned her head to read the digital thermometer that was placed just on the left side of her kitchen window and saw that it showed a big 90 degrees. _It's going to be a hot one._

"Yak…" She said to herself, opening the refrigerator's door and pouring herself a tall glass of orange juice. She closed her eyes in satisfaction as she drank the cold liquid. She heard her fax machine go off as she rinsed her glass and put it in the dishwasher. She walked towards it and saw it was the list of names Booth had talked to her about the day before. _I guess he wasn't able to sleep well either. _Tempe took the list, put it in a folder, and then walked back to the kitchen to leave it on the table. She took her clothes off, pushed the bathroom's door and took a colder than usual shower. It was invigorating. She wanted to stay all day under the fresh water, but unfortunately, she knew it was impossible. She got out, wrapped a towel around her body and went to her bedroom to get dressed. She put on a low V-neck white t-shirt and a knee length kaki skirt. She tied her wet hair into a ponytail, put a little of mascara and looked at herself in the mirror. _I look just fine._

Temperance was used to more make-up than mascara, but the day would be too hot and sticky to dare use anything else that would probably smudge all over her face. She went to the medicine cabinet and took out her 30 SPF Sunscreen Lotion and put it on the part of her skin that would be exposed to the sun. She was washing the lotion off her hands when she heard the phone ring. Booth's name was written on the identification screen of her telephone. She unknowingly smiled while she answered.

"Hi Booth." She said as she absently straightened her skirt. "You're up early?" She walked into her bedroom to look in her wardrobe for her sandals.

"As you already know Bones, the future belongs to those who wake up early!" He cheerily answered back. _You go to bed late, and you wake up early: that's the story of my life! _ "I've been hot and sticky all night." Booth had called even if it was only 6:00am because he had figured out that she probably would be up too. "Don't tell me you were able to sleep in that heat?"

Temperance could very well visualize a sweaty Booth, bare chest and everything. She took a deep breath, ignoring the knot that had formed in her throat, and tried to erase the picture in her head of her gorgeous partner.

"No Booth, you don't have to be jealous, I didn't sleep very well either." She walked towards the fan and stood there, arms spread like a scarecrow.

"Yeah, the air is insufferable. Look Bones, what do you say we go eat breakfast in a nice air conditioned restaurant and talk about the case over it, alright? I found something while I was doing research last night."

"That sounds great." _I'm starving, and sweating. _"Zach and I also found something else about Julianne's remains last night that I need to discuss with you."

"Good. I'll be there in twenty minutes. Be ready." If there was something Seeley Booth didn't like, it was to wait after someone when he had said he would be there at a certain time of the day. He just loved punctuality.

"I already am." She knew it would make him happy to hear this.

"Wonderful." _I love that woman_. As he thought those words, he stood there, flipping the phone closed, with it in the palm of his hand, thinking he had only said that as a figure of speech. _Of course I don't love her…she's Bones. She's a Squint, and my partner. I can't love Squints. Good. That is settled. _Happy with this conclusion, he grabbed his car keys and walked out of his house.

XxXxX

True to his words, twenty minutes later, Booth was in front of Brennan's apartment, knocking on her front door. He was wearing beige pants and a white T-shirt. With all that heat, he wasn't about to put his suit on. Tempe opened the door, pink cheeks and a glass of water in her hands. Booth thought she looked adorable.

"I think I'm dying." She said, gulping half her glass of cold water. She looked at her partner's clothing and smiled. "I see you decided to forget protocol." She then looked at herself, saw they were wearing the same color of clothes, and added: "We look like twins."

"Well Bones, I'm not about to wear a skirt, but today, I could consider the idea." She laughed at that and offered him a cold glass of water before going out of her place and into his car. "I had two choices: I could wear my suit or I could die. I decided I'd rather live." Booth smiled and opened the door for her. She didn't even object to the chivalry gesture, which surprised her.

"Good choice. I wouldn't want you to die on me." She stepped into the car and welcomed the cold fresh air coming out of the air conditioning ventilating system. "Speaking of dying, how went your CPR re-certification?"

"You know I got an A." He matter-of-factly said, satisfied of himself.

"I didn't think less."

"Thank you." Booth said back, looking at her and grinning. "Are you going soft on me Bones? Because I think you just gave me an actual compliment." She looked surprised, but smiled.

"I am not going _soft_ on you Booth." She wasn't sure she really believed that statement, but continued anyway with what she thought was a logical explanation."I am just acknowledging that I didn't think you'd get less than an A. You are good at what you do, and I can see it. Why can't I just give you a compliment without you analyzing everything I say? I think you are a great FBI Agent. There, I said it." He stared at her, speechless, and spoke after a few seconds of silence. They were both looking at each other.

"Sometimes, you surprise me Bones." He said as he shifts the vehicle into gear and pulls out onto the road. "For someone who's not good with people, you sure know how to say the right thing when the time comes."

"Stop saying that." She demanded, genuinely looking hurt.

"What?" _What did I say!_

"Saying I'm bad with people. It's not very nice." She suddenly went silent and stared at the road.

"I'm sorry." He apologized. "It's true that I once said you didn't have to be offended by the fact that it was true you were bad with people, but you are better now." She turned to face him. "It's true, I've seen the change Bones, you're getting better. There's still work to do, but you're not that bad with people anymore. I shouldn't have said that." Tempe nodded and gave a small smile.

"Thank you." She took a pause and added. "I _am_ trying, you know?"

"I know." Booth cursed himself for saying those words out loud. He hadn't wanted to hurt her feelings, but he had done it just the same. The road to the restaurant was silent, and when they ordered their food, they focused about Julianne's case and forgot about what had happened in the car. What was said was said, and it was now history.

Booth explained to Temperance that when he came back from his CPR class last night, he started to look in the FBI archives to find something about previous disappearances on a Cruise Ship. He found out that Julianne Edwards is the only one they know of who've been abducted while she was _on_ a Cruise ship, but that several disappearances of women between 25 to 35 years of age occurred while they were waiting to board the ship on their way to their honeymoon, while the husband was taking care of the tickets. The first disappearance was in May 2000.

"This isn't a coincidence." Stated Brennan.

"Nope!" Said Booth. "And none of those girls have been found yet."

"None, besides Julianne Edwards." Corrected the anthropologist.

"Exactly."

XxXxX

Brennan held up a finger to Booth as her cell phone rang. She saw it was her assistant on the ID screen. "Brennan's speaking. What do you have for me Zach?" She listened for a brief moment, and then added: "Yes Zach, thank you." Temperance hung up her cell phone to brief Booth on what she had just learned from her assistant. "The results came in. Julianne Edwards didn't die that 5th of July 2003 on that boat. She died in August 2005. There's a fracture at the base of her skull that is _post mortem_-"

"What? English please." Booth said to her.

"_Post Mortem_. It's Latin. It means _after death_." Temperance explained to her partner. It was easy for her to forget that people sometimes just spoke English, because she was fluent in many other languages, like French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and a few African dialects. She hadn't meant to be a smartass.

"Okay. Go on." He encouraged her.

"She also has three fractured ribs on her right side that probably occurred while she was still alive. It looks like she might have fought to survive. A soil sample was taken of the surroundings of the Robertson Mansion, but the level of asbestos on her bones was higher. As the level of copper."

"So…she has been buried elsewhere before the killer took her to the Robertson Mansion?" Booth asked, analyzing the situation.

"Yes." Answered Brennan. "But what is also strange is that there are high levels of sodium and metallic sulfides that became embedded in her bones, which are highly concentrated in the ocean."

"Or, we could say the Pacific Ocean?" He stated, taking a bite of eggs and bacon.

"Yes." Booth and Tempe stayed silent for a moment, both lost in their thoughts.

"What happened to her?" Finally Booth said, more as a statement then a question. Brennan sighed and shook her head.

"Last night Zack and I found on her skull a tiny wound near her right temple. Since a large part of the right side of her skull is missing, we weren't able to really identify what caused it, but it looked like a 5 mm wide nail could have fit there. It's weird." She drank the last drop of her coffee and straightened herself, arching her back. Booth tried not to stare at her, but he just couldn't help himself_. Is he checking me out? Nah… No way. _ "We need to investigate more." There was a spark in her eyes as she said those words. Booth smiled.

"Aren't you just like a happy puppy, jumping up and down, knowing you'll go in the field again?" Booth laughed as he wiped off his mouth with a napkin. "Come on Bones, we'll start with Mr. And Mrs. Edwards." She gave him a large smile that almost knocked him down. She really looked radiant. He put 15 bucks on the table and pushed her out of the restaurant.

"Hey! You don't have to pay for me!" Brennan objected.

"Look Bones, it's getting ridiculous to always split the bill in half since we always are in restaurants." Booth was only being practical, not gallant. "What do you say this time I pay, and the next time you will?" She considered the offer, and then answered affirmatively.

"That sounds reasonable."

They got into the black SUV, knowing it would be a one-hour drive to get there. Temperance didn't want to sleep but her eyes were closing on her own, due to the lack of sleep she had the night before.

"Do you mind if I sleep?" Brennan let out a yawn as she asked Booth. "I can't seem to stay awake."

"Not at all." He took a blanket that was on the back seat and gave it to her. She stared at him as if he was from space, not understanding why he was giving her a wool blanket since it was about 95 degrees outside.

"I know it's about 75 degrees in the car because of the air conditioning, but-"

"It's to use as a pillow Bones, not to cover yourself." He specified.

"Oh…right." She felt ashamed for not having understood what the blanket was for, but didn't say anything else. Booth saw that her cheeks were pink, but decided not to tease her, although the temptation was high since she looked so beautiful when she was embarrassed.

It didn't take long for Temperance to fall in a deep and peaceful sleep. Booth had put the Journey's Greatest Hits in the CD player of the SUV and was listening to it while driving. His eyes were most of the time kept on the road, but it was hard for him not to stare at his sleeping partner since he could look at her all the time he wanted without her knowing it.

Booth parked his car into the Edwards's driveway, took the keys out of the ignition, and never once did Temperance move. He took his seat belt off of him, and leaned over her. Before speaking, he took the liberty to closely look at her. She just looked so peaceful. Her face was entirely relaxed, and her breathing soft and regular. Her skin looked flawless. He burned to touch her.

"Bones." He murmured to her. "Wake up." She didn't move and it made Booth smile. He knew he had to wake her gently, or she would probably wake up with a start and kick him. He got closer and had to close his eyes while he inhaled because her sent was just intoxicating. "Hey Sleeping Beauty, wake up." She moaned something inaudible and shifted her head from her right side to her left, almost knocking her head with Booth's. _Damn, that was close. _Her breathing went regular again, and Booth was tempted to let her sleep and go inside the house to interrogate Julianne Edwards's parents, but he knew Brennan would never speak to him again if he did that. She looked so lovely, and his hand was burning from the anticipation of a touch. "Temperance…" He murmured softly as he took his left hand and gently caressed her right cheek. Her skin was soft and warm, exactly as Booth thought it would be. She moaned again, but this time he had heard what she had said. _Did she just say my name?_ A light smile crossed her lips, and she leaned her cheek into his hand. _Damn, she's making it hard for me. _He took a deep breath and stroked her cheek for the last time before taking his hands off of her perfect face. "Bones, I'll give you a gun if you wake up." This seems to be the miracle sentence, since Tempe slowly opened her eyes. Booth had taken back his place in his seat, and graced her with a disarming smile. "Hey Sleepy Head!"

Temperance strangely looked at him and lightly touched her right cheek. She seemed lost in her thoughts.

"That's strange…" Her cheek was still tingling from Booth's delicate touch. She could feel it.

"What is?" _I'm in trouble._ His heartbeat started to race up. _She's on to me._

"Nothing." She absently answered. "I must have been dreaming."

"And it must have been a damn good dream," Booth started to say, seeing a way out, "because you just couldn't stop saying my name out loud." Temperance let out a snort, and turned her head towards Booth. He had his cocky smile on.

"That is _so_ not true!" She told him, defensively.

"That is so!" He further added. "You just couldn't stop yourself: _Oh! Booth, yes! Again! Oh! Yes! You are such a Sex God!"_

"Stop it!" She knew he was only kidding, but she did remember Booth being present in her dream, and she was a bit nervous that it really had shown.

"I'm telling you, Bones! You seemed insatiable!" At that, she kicked him in the arm, but not to hard. He giggled, satisfied of him.

"You are such a liar." She desperately said, but she was still smiling. "And so full of yourself."

"Hey, you're the one who said I was a Sex God, not me." He joyfully stated.

"I never said that." She took her security belt off. _He wants to play; I'll show him the signification of the word 'play'._

"But I'm sure you thought about it."

Booth looked at his partner and saw sparks in her eyes. He saw her move closer to him and with the seductive look she was giving him, he found out that his mouth was suddenly very, very dry.

"I'll tell you something Seeley Booth, " She started to explain, in a low voice. "I never thought you were a Sex God, and you want to know why?" She didn't give him the time to answer her question. "Because there is only _one_ Sex God, and it's a Sex Goddess, and her name is Temperance Brennan." And with that she got out of the car, leaving him speechless.

XxXxX

A now recovered Booth was just beside Brennan when she rang the doorbell of the Edwards family house. It was terribly hot outside and pearls of sweat had already begun forming on both of their skin. The humidity in the air was very unusual. A gray haired woman of about 55 years old opened the door.

"Hello. May I help you?" She asked, not knowing what the two strangers in front of her were there for.

"Mrs. Edwards? I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth, and this is Dr. Temperance Brennan." He showed her his badge, and the woman stared at Brennan and a smile crossed her face.

"Yes, of course. I recognize you now. I've read your book." Mrs. Edwards took out her hand and shook Brennan's before Booth's, which seemed to annoy him but made Temperance smile. "I thought it was very good."

"Thank you." Tempe modestly said back.

"We have some questions to ask you madam, regarding your daughter, Julianne." Booth said to her, very FBI protocol-like.

"Of course, I knew you were coming. George called us, my husband and I, last night." As she said his name, Tempe sensed that the woman had her daughter's ex husband in aversion.

"So, you already know we found your daughter?" Asked Brennan.

"Yes." Mrs. Edwards took a step back into her house and asked them to come in. The air inside was worse than outside. "At least now we know that she's dead."

"We are very sorry for your loss." Said Booth.

"Thank you. You have to excuse my husband for not being here, he is at work this morning."

"Of course."

The rest of the interview went as usual. They told her how they found Julianne, and asked her if she knew someone who would want to hurt her daughter. Mrs. Edwards didn't know anything. She showed her the list of the people who were on that ship that day, but there were no names that caught her attention.

"I don't know any of those people." She sadly said, tears in her eyes. "I would give anything to be able to help you with your investigation. I really want that person to be in jail, but I have no idea who this could be."

"It's alright Mrs. Edwards." Booth started to tell her. "We know it's probably someone who has no connection to your daughter, but we just wanted to make sure there wasn't a name on that list you recognized." Tears were now falling down her cheeks and she excused herself to go in the bathroom to look for some Kleenex. Temperance hadn't said a word for about 10 minutes, and Booth turned his head towards his partner to see what she was doing, only to find her staring out of the window at a little girl who was sitting on the porch of the house next door, the little girl looked miserable. Tempe's hair was curling around her face, and she had spots of sweat on her cheeks and on her neck. She took a deep breath in, her eyes still fix on that little girl, and a drop of sweat rolled down her neck to go rest on her chest, and then disappeared in her cleavage, between her breasts. Booth realized that he was holding his breath, and that his mouth was dry. He blinked, which sort of woke him up of his numbing state, and cleared his voice.

"Bones?" As he asked her name, Mrs. Edwards came back from the bathroom, apologizing for her absence.

"It's alright, don't worry about it." Said Temperance, her eyes leaving the little girl for the first time in the last 15 minutes. "Can I ask you a question about your neighbors?" As she said that, she pointed with her right index the little girl who was sitting on the porch.

"Sure." She answered as she stared at the girl.

"Do you know who is living next door?"

"Bones…" Started to say Booth, but decided to shut up when he saw the look in Brennan's eyes. He knew it didn't have anything to do with the investigation, but he also knew Temperance Brennan, and she wasn't asking that question for the sake of conversation.

"I don't know them very well." Mrs. Edwards honestly said to Brennan. "The house belongs to a Mr. Ronald Lydecker. He's got two girls in foster care, sisters. This is Melinda." She said as she pointed the little girl outside. "She's 10 years old I think. Her older sister is in summer school, she has trouble learning, you know." Brennan didn't say a word, but nodded her head, which seems to encourage Mrs. Edwards to go on with her story. "I think their parents died from overdose a few years back. They've been with Mr. Lydecker for about one year." She took a pause, and then added: "They don't seem right in the head. Those two girls really have weird behaviors." At that Tempe stood up and thanked Mrs. Edwards for her time. Booth said thank you in a rush and walked behind Temperance as she opened the front door and went outside.

"What the hell is going on Bones?" Booth asked her, while closing the door behind him. She opened her mouth to say something, but no sound came out of it. She stopped walking, closed her eyes, took a very long and deep breath, and started to walk towards the little girl. "Bones!"

"You stay right where you are Booth. Don't go any further. Trust me. I know what I'm doing." There was determination in her voice, but Booth didn't understand a thing. He watched his partner as she walked closer to the girl who looked terrified of Brennan.

XxXxX

Temperance walked closer to Melinda, and she sat next to her. The child looked around as if she was going to get killed for speaking to someone.

"Hello." Softly said Brennan. "My name is Temperance. What's yours?"

The little girl played with her shirt and stared at her very used shoes.

"Melinda." She shyly answered.

"It's nice to meet you Melinda." Brennan smiled at the girl, and spoke to her with a very soft voice. "I see that you have a very nasty cut on your leg Melinda." Tempe said to her, pointing the 3 inches wound on the girl's leg, just below the knee. "I am a doctor you know, and I want to help you. Can I look at it?" The little girl stayed silent, but nodded affirmatively with her head. "It's not very deep, but you should get it cleaned up and put a bandage on it." She told Melinda, who was still playing with her shirt. "How did you end up with that cut?"

"I fell down of my bicycle." She slowly answered Brennan, her voice almost inaudible. She then showed the doctor her bloody right elbow.

"That must have been a really bad fall Melinda." The little girl nodded again as a response to Tempe's question. Booth was studying the scene from far behind, his mind racing at two hundred miles and hour. "Can I ask you to stand up for me Sweetie?" She asked the child, who wasn't sure about doing it, but still stood up. I want you to show me where you're hurt Melinda, so I can take care of you. Can you do this for me?" Tempe's heartbeat was pounding in her chest so loud that she thought even Booth could hear it, standing about fifty feet behind her.

"Yes." Melinda said, her voice again almost inaudible. She then showed Temperance her left elbow, which was scratched. She took off her left shoe and showed Brennan a cut that she had on her foot. "I stumbled in the bushes." She explained to the doctor. She then showed Tempe a few more bruises, some were on the insides of her thighs, and then she stopped.

"Is there anywhere else you're hurt Melinda?" Temperance asked the child, staring at her in her eyes. The child's eyes moved from Brennan's to the floor.

"No."

"Are you sure Sweetie, that there are no other part of your body that is hurt?" Melinda just stared at her feet, silent. "You just have to show me where it hurts with your finger, you don't have to take off any clothes for me to show me the bruise." Melinda stood there, silent, for a long period of time. Brennan was using all the patience in the world that she possessed. Finally, the little girl's right hand showed Temperance the last part of her body that was hurt: the part between her legs. Temperance nodded in silence to Melinda, and bent down near the child. "It's okay Melinda, nobody will hurt you there anymore, you have to believe me." As she was saying those words to the girl, a man in his forties got out of the house and started to yell at Brennan. The forensic saw that the little girl had started to shake violently, scared to death.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" He yelled at her, but when he got about three feet from them, Brennan's fist ended up in his face, knocking him down. It didn't take long before Booth was running towards them.

"You fucking bastard!" Brennan angrily yelled at the man lying down on the grass.

"Bones!" Booth yelled. "What the-"

"Bitch!" The man yelled back to her, his nose bleeding. "You broke my nose!"

"And I'll break something else if you take a single step forward!" She threatened him, ready to fight back, protecting the little girl behind her. "You bastard." She said again between her teeth. Booth put himself between the two adults.

"What's going on Bones?" Booth's firm voice was demanding an answer.

"Arrest this dirt bag Booth, he is sexually abusing this little girl." Brennan seriously answered her partner. "And probably her sister too."

"You lying peace of trash-" Lydecker started to say to Melinda, before Booth's fist knocked him down. The dirt bag was still unconscious when the FBI Agent handcuffed him.

Phone calls were made, police officers and social workers arrived, and the bastard got into a police car handcuffed. Temperance walked towards Melinda, who was waiting for her sister to get home from school any minute. She sat down next to the little girl. Booth watched in silence, amazed that Brennan had been able to get that little girl's trust. _How did she know? _Was the question Booth couldn't stop asking himself. Deep inside, he knew _how_, but he preferred to ignore the answer.

"Melinda, I have to tell you something very, very important. It's alright if you tell it to your sister too, okay?" Temperance saw the child nod. "You have to promise me that you will always remember this." She waited for the little girl to speak. "Promise me Melinda." She reminded the child.

"I promise Temperance." She softly said.

"Good." She positioned herself for the child to be able to see right into her eyes. "This wasn't your fault Melinda. Nothing of what ever happened to you was your fault. Nothing." The 10-year-old girl started to cry. "You are a good girl, and you never did anything to deserve that. You have to believe me. You are a smart and beautiful girl, Melinda. This wasn't your fault." The little girl nodded through her tears, and hugged Temperance for at least five minutes. "You will be well taken care of, you and your sister both. I promise. You see that man over there?" She pointed Booth to her, and Melinda nodded affirmatively. "This is a good man, and he'll see that you and your sister get into a nice family." A woman approached them and smiled to Brennan, and then to Melinda.

"Hi! Melinda, my name is Sarah, I'm a social worker. You can come with me now." The child looked at Tempe for approbation.

"It's okay." Brennan told her. "You can go with her, she'll take good care of you." The girl let go of Brennan's hand and took Sarah's. Brennan watched her as she hugged her sister and got into Sarah's car. Temperance sighed and turned around, to walk towards the black SUV. Booth was waiting for her, his back leaning on the car, arms crossed.

"You did good." He told Tempe before getting into the car. "Fucking bastard…" He added between his teeth, speaking of Lydecker.

"Thank you." She said as she put on her safety belt while Booth started the car. They drove off in silence, not really knowing what to say to each other. It was a very awkward silence, and after some time Booth turned his head towards Brennan and saw that tears were falling down her cheeks. His heart just sunk in his chest, and it took all the strength he had within himself to speak to her, knowing that what he would learn in the next minutes would be awful.

"Bones…?" He softly said to her. She didn't move, didn't flinch, it was like she didn't hear him at all. "Bones…?" He said again, tenderly touching her arm as he asked her name. The second he touched her she jumped off her seat, as if he had scared her to death. _Oh my god…_ he thought. Temperance put her hand on her mouth and said to Booth.

"Stop the car!" Her jump had almost made him cause an accident, but he had been able to avoid it. "Stop the car!" She repeated as he was parking it on the side of the street, near a park. She got out of the car in about two seconds and threw up in the grass. Booth stayed in the car, his eyes fixed on the road in front of him, trying to fight the surge of emotions overwhelming him. He took a deep breath, wiping the moistness of his hands on his pants and looked for Temperance outside. He saw her about twenty feet away, sitting on one of the park's bench. Booth got out of his car and walked towards her, and then sat next to her, but not too close. Neither of them were speaking; they just stared at the pound and the trees in front of them. The sky was gray and looked as if it was about to rain. Booth waited for Brennan to be the first one to speak. He wanted to let her know that he was listening if she wished to speak to him.

"As you already know I was 14 when I was taken into foster care." Tempe started to explain after a few minutes of silence, not looking at Booth. "My parents had just disappeared, my brother had abandoned me, and the other members of my family weren't very present in my life." She took a pause while wiping a tear off her cheek, and continued. "I was sent into a family that already had two boys of their own, twins, Samuel and Jason. They also had another foster girl like me of about 15 years old. Her name was Lily, Lily Jacobson. She became like a sister to me, she really took me under her wing. I was crying 24 hours a day, and she would always come up to my room with a cookie, or a fruit, just something to cheer me up. She was a lively girl, just like Angela. Anyway…I had been there for about 4 months when it first started to happen." She stopped talking and took a deep breath, inhaling the energy she needed to go on. She ignored the tears that couldn't stop themselves from falling down her cheeks. Brennan had never told that story to anyone, and Booth was the last person on earth that she thought she would ever be telling that story to. "The twins had started to pay me attention, calling me names like _"Hello Sunshine!"_ or _"Hey Beautiful!". _Every time they would say that to me I would just shyly smile and flush, I was only 14 and they were 16. When they would walk behind me they would touch me somewhere, you know. At first it was an arm, but it became more. I didn't like it anymore, and they just scared the hell out of me. The look they had in their eyes when they just stared at me…I swear to god once I thought I had seen the devil.

One night, when the parents were out for the weekend, I woke up with a start, Samuel and Jason standing right next to my bed. I was about to scream when Samuel jumped on me and told me to shut up, covering my mouth with his left hand. I tried to defend myself, but those twins were stronger then I was. He then murmured in my ear to not fight, that they wouldn't hurt me. They tried to take my pajama off of me when Lily walked into my room, an orange in her hand. Her expression was of surprise and she dropped the orange on the floor. _"What the hell do you think you're doing?" _She told them. Samuel tightened his grip on me, and Jason jumped on Lily. _"I'll show you what we're doing…" _Jason said to Lily, before ripping off her clothes. She fought back like crazy, but he knocked her out and she was dizzy for a while. Samuel then told me to look closely, because I would be next." Temperance's voice broke and she just didn't seem to be able to go on. Booth wished to god he had a punching bag in front of him to let out the rage that was building up in his chest.

"I lost track of time when Jason was raping Lily. All I can remember is the look on Lily's face when it was happening, the look in her eyes…it was livid, empty and dead. At that moment, the instinct of survival overcame me and I don't really remember how I was able to get away from Samuel's hold, but I was able to, and then I ran. I ran like crazy, with no shoes on, in my pajama, in the middle of the night. I must have run for half an hour before I saw a small restaurant that was open 24 hours a day and walked in. The woman behind the counter stared at me for about 10 seconds before she reacted and came to help me. She took me in the back and I called my grandfather. I was hysterical, and almost 2 hours after the phone call was made, he came to get me. I explained to him what happened. He listened to me while I was recounting the events of the night, and he didn't say a thing. I was out of the foster system by the end of the day and living with him. I never learned what happened to Lily, nor the twins. My grandfather and I never talked about it ever again. For him the subject was closed. It was in the past; it was done, so for him it meant that it was over. About two weeks later I registered myself into a martial art class." There were a few minutes of silence before she spoke again. "I would have loved to know what happened to Lily…because I feel like I have abandoned her there…"

"Bones…" Softly said Booth, wanting to reassure her that she had made the right choice for herself.

"It's true Booth," She said, her voice broken with light sobs. "I left her there, all alone. I ran like a coward."

"No. You ran like a scared kid."

"When I saw that little girl outside today," Brennan started to say, thinking about Melinda, "something just snapped. I saw her face, the look in her eyes, and I just knew. I don't know why, but I just knew." As she finished saying those last words, the rain started to fall from the sky like cats and dogs.

Neither Temperance nor Booth made a move to get out of the rain and run into the car. As he had wanted so much to comfort her, Booth had moved closer towards her, and her head rested on his shoulder. So they just sat there, comfortably sitting on the park bench in silence, and welcoming the freshness of the rain on their skin.

**(TBC)**


	5. Both Amazing and Constipated

**A/N** I want to thank everyone who read my story, and specially those who reviewed. I got amazing reviews and I was acting like crazy every time I read one. Crazy as: jumping up and down, clapping hands and twirling. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I hope I won't let you down for my next chapters.

I have to cut this chapter in two parts, because I ended up writing 15 pages. LOL! I don't post often, but when I post, I post. I'll post part 2 (well, we'll call it chapter six) soon. I promise. 

XxXxX

**Chapter five: Both Amazing and Constipated**

_17h00_

After Booth had driven Brennan home, he had taken his cell phone out of his pocket and had called the only person he could think of.

"Angela? It's Booth."

"Hello Handsome!" Cheerily answered the brunette. "What can I do for you?" She knew he wasn't calling her for any reason and she suddenly felt her chest tighten. "Is Brennan alright?"

"I'm not sure to tell you the truth Ange." He gravely said. Usually Booth was the funny and cocky FBI Agent, but his serious tone had told the artist that it was a serious matter. "I need you to do me a favor without asking questions to neither me, or Bones." He knew he was asking a lot to the very curious Angela.

"Of course." Angela had to bite her tongue not to ask why.

"I need for you to go see Bones tonight. Bring food and a bottle of wine or something. Say you didn't want to eat alone, and that you thought it would be nice to eat with a friend, okay? I really need for you to make her think the idea came from you. Can I count on you to do this Angela?"

"Sure Booth." She took a pause and risked asking: "Is she okay?" There was concern in her voice and Booth sensed it.

"She will be Ange. She just needs a friend right now." Since Angela wasn't saying anything back, he decided to explain a little without saying too much. "Look, something happened today that made old ghosts resurface. Don't push her into telling you what it is, I'm not sure she'll want to relive it again, but Angela? Don't take it personally if she doesn't tell you, because you really are a good friend to her."

"I know." Angela was really touched by what Booth had just said to her, and she smiled. "You know what Booth? You want us to think you're a big tough alpha male, all muscles and everything, but inside, you're a sensitive man." She heard him let out a small laugh.

"Yeah…well, just don't tell anyone because I have a reputation to keep."

"I might tell Brennan…one day." She threatened.

"I think she already knows Angela. Bye, and thank you." And with that he hung up, satisfied of himself for making the call. He wasn't sure if he was being too much of a buttinski by doing so, but he felt like it was better if Brennan didn't spend the evening alone. She hadn't spoken to him about David for over a week now, and he wasn't sure if he was still around. He hoped he wasn't, but didn't dare to ask her.

Booth's thoughts came back to a wet clothed Brennan, sexy as hell without knowing it, and vulnerable at the same time. He thought of how much he had misjudged that woman from the beginning, and how unfair he had been to her in the past. He remembered thinking when he had first met her how cold and insensitive she was. When they had been fighting in his office about the murder of the girl from his FBI coworker, he had rudely asked her if she knew how it was to _feel_. He had told her she was cold hearted: a robot. She had just stood there, fuming, and had turned around to walk towards Cullen and ask him to remove Booth from the case.

He now understood her better and knew how wrong he had been. What she had told him today explained so much. Booth found himself mentally tired, and felt like going to the gym to let out the frustration and anger that had built itself in his chest. _One hour,_ he told himself_, just one hour and after that I'll work back on the case._

XxXxX

Tempe took a sip of her red wine while sitting on her front porch, now in dry clothes, and remembered how well Booth had looked in his wet t-shirt and wet pants. Through the white shirt she had seen how well toned his abs were and how smooth his skin looked. She devilishly smiled to herself and enjoyed the sensation of the warm red liquid in her throat as she swallowed another sip. "Mmmm…" she said out loud, not really sure if she was speaking of the wine or Booth, since she was picturing him in his wet beige pants and remembering how well they had been modeling his butt. _I shouldn't be thinking of him that way. _She was taking another sip of wine when she felt a tingling sensation in her chest and stomach. She wasn't about to analyze if it came from the alcohol or from thinking about Booth, so she just put aside the psychological explanation, and enjoyed the sensation.

Tempe had been well aware that her clothes had been mimicking the same effect than Booth's when he had drove her home, but she had wore a thin padded white bra under her white t-shirt that day and she knew nothing was showing through it. She had noticed how much Booth seem to concentrate to look at her in the eyes, and it had made her smile.

Before Tempe had gotten out of the car, she had turned around to face Booth and had said a shy thank you. She had been reaching the porch when she had thought she had heard a car's door being shut. She had turned around and had found herself in Booth's arms. She had welcomed the embrace and had returned it with the same strength. _I could get used to this._ She had thought how many times she had found herself in Booth's arms over the last few weeks.

She always felt like she was safe against him, like nothing could ever happen to her while she listened to his heart beat, and she also felt silly for thinking so because she had never felt anything like that before. Never in her life had Temperance Brennan felt like this in another man's arms and it scared her. Never in her life she had found the strength to tell Lily's story to anyone close to her and today she had just found her confident in Seeley Booth, and it also scared the hell out of her. _What does that mean?_

Booth had ended the embrace and had found that Tempe wasn't able to look at him in the eyes. He had taken her face between his hands and had said: "Look at me." She had reluctantly obeyed and felt her face flush from the intensity of his dark brown eyes. "I feel privileged that you trusted me enough to tell me that story, and I don't want you to think that I'll think less of you because of it, because it is quite the opposite." She had shaken her head affirmatively while he had kissed her forehead and Tempe remembered the smile that had spread across her face at what Booth had told her next. "You are an _amazing_ woman Temperance. Do you know that?" She had felt a tear glide down her left cheek and had answered by a small thank you; grateful she had such a friend and partner in her life.

"You're sure you'll be alright?" He had asked out of concern.

"I'll be just fine." And with that he had made a small nod and had walked back toward his car.

Temperance had just finished remembering the last event of the day when she saw Angela park her car just in front of her driveway. _Booth…_She smiled to her friend.

"Hey Angela!" She waved a hand.

"Hi Sweetie." Cheerily answered the brunette while she opened the trunk of her pale green colored New Beetle and took out bags of foods from Wong Foo's and a bottle of wine. "Hungry?"

"Yes!" Answered Tempe, smiling at the artist. "It's good that you brought another bottle of wine because I had only two glasses left in that one." She showed the artist the empty bottle lying still on the porch. She knew Booth probably called her to ask her to come, but she decided not to question Angela and enjoy the evening in her company.

"I bought Australian. Your favorite." She gave the bottle of _Yellow Label_ to her friend for her to open. "Sid whipped up something new for us. He said we'd be delighted."

"I'll thank him next time I go to Wong Foo's." She stood up from the swing and joined her friend in the kitchen.

"I came here because I wanted to talk to you about something you and I could do for Zach's birthday party next month." Angela said to Tempe with a devilish smile.

"You and I both know you came here because Booth asked you to." She said back to Angela, who was getting the food out of the bags and onto the kitchen counter.

"Why would you think-" She tried to find a way out, but was caught by the anthropologist.

"Ange, don't insult my intelligence." She simply answered, not looking angry.

"Alright Sweetie, but it's also true that I wanted to talk to you about a surprise we could do at Zach's birthday party." The enthusiasm of the artist alarmed Brennan. "Don't give me that look!"

"What _kind_ of surprise were you thinking of?" She suspiciously asked.

"You remember when you spent six months in South America for the Fernando's Case two years ago?" Eagerly asked Angela.

"You should know that I'm not suffering from Alzheimer's disease."

"Yeah, well, I was thinking since you told me about Ricardo's-"

"Antonio." Corrected Temperance.

"Anyway, I was thinking we could…" As Angela started to explain to Tempe what she had thought they could do, she saw the eyes of her friend grow out of their sockets.

"Are you insane!" _She's definitely mad._

"Of course I'm not insane, you should know that." She responded on the same level of seriousness as her friend had just a few minutes ago.

"I'm not doing this." She negatively shook her head again, and again, and again.

"Oh come on! I've seen you do it, you're _so_ good at it!" The brunette pleaded. "Please Brenn! It will be fun! Everybody will be there!"

"Precisely!" she passionately retorted.

"Come on! Can't you do it for me? I was so happy to have thought about it!"

"Angela, I am not doing this. I'm working with those people, it wouldn't be professional." She was resolute not to give in, and tried to avoid the puppy eyes her friend was giving her.

"That is what fun is for! Come on Brenn! Nobody will be expecting this from you and it will make them see another side of you." Angela really wanted to convince her. "You always complain about people thinking you're not socializing enough-"

"I never complain." She replied on the defensive.

"You don't have to verbalize it, I see it in your face when they say something to you about your social skills." Brennan wasn't speaking, so she continued. "Look Sweetie, I love you, but you need to stop being so constipated."

"Angela!" Tempe was insulted by her friend's remark.

"I'm sorry Sweetie, but you have the Great Wall of China surrounding you all the time, except on some rare occasions with me, so it would be great for some of your friends and coworkers to see it down for an evening." The only other person Angela had also seen the Great Wall of China crack a door open was when the forensic anthropologist was with her partner in crime. She grinned when she thought about the look on Booth's face when he'd see her. _He'll have a heart attack. _The heart attack was part of Angela's plan, of course, she really wanted to make Brennan destabilize the man.

"I don't know Angela…" She was starting to give in.

"Could you just have an open mind about this? Please? It's not like I'm asking you to parade naked."

Brennan rolled her eyes to the ceiling and smiled. "You would have asked and it wouldn't have surprised me."

Angela was grinning. "If you prefer-"

"No, it wasn't a suggestion." Brennan shook her head in disbelief.

"Alright then, it's your choice, but I bet a certain FBI Agent would have been happy about it." Angela gave her friend a charming smile.

"Why am I not even surprised that you brought him up?"

"Wouldn't you want to bring him up?" Angela gave her the Cheshire cat smile after winking at her.

"Angela, we don't have that kind of relationship." She tried to stop her mind from wandering in that direction…

"Yeah, yeah, Bla Bla Woof Woof." Annoyingly said Angela.

"I don't know what that means."

"It means that I've heard that before from people who _did_ belong together and were also denying it." Explained the artist.

"Would you just leave it alone?" _I have enough problems figuring out for myself how I feel about Booth without you always pushing me towards him!_

"I can't."

"Why is my sex life so interesting to you?"

"It's not your sex life as much as your love life." Corrected Angela while she opened the boxes of Sid's delicious food and gave one to Brennan.

"You still haven't answered my question."

"Because I want to see you happy, and you're not happy with David."

"I'm not with David anymore." She didn't look sad while saying it, and it gave hope to Angela.

"You're not?" There were sparks in the brunette's eyes that didn't escape her friend. "Since when?"

"Since two days ago, it just wasn't working. I wasn't really into him anyway, and before he got too attached, I preferred to end it. He took it well, better then I expected actually. I guess he wasn't that into me either." She took a bite of the chicken.

"He didn't deserve you then." Angela took a sip of the red wine, and returned to their previous subject of conversation. "So…about the surprise for the guys, will you do it?"

Tempe took a deep breath and finally gave her answer to her friend. "Yes, I will."

"It will be so great, they will just _die_." She stood up on her feet and started to jump up and down, clapping her hands appreciatively.

"I guess we won't need to do an autopsy, we will already know what the cause of death will be." Tempe teasingly said back.

"Did the famous Temperance Brennan just make a joke?" Angela got a grimace from her friend as an answer.

They spent the next three hours drinking the last of the bottle of wine, laughing and talking about Zach's party. It was nice for Temperance to let her guards down for a few hours and enjoy her female friend's company. They sat on the porch, both a little intoxicated by the alcohol, and enjoyed the cool breeze of the night, talking about what women usually talked about within themselves.

Angela was now relating to her friend a date she had a few years back with a man and how it had ended in a disastrous manner. Both girls were just laughing their heart out and as Angela was mimicking the dance the guy had been doing Temperance had stood up and had joined her hands with her friend's and they both had started to waltz, but in a most exaggerate way.

XxXxX

After Booth returned from the gym at 6 o'clock that evening, he had taken a shower and put on some dry clothes and had returned to his office like he had said he would do. The thing with Special Agent Seeley Booth was that when he told someone he'd do something, he would just do it. It was the same with himself. If he had said he would do something, he would just do it. So it was sometimes very hard for him to see that others weren't always true to their words, and it usually made him mad. What he had appreciated the most working with the Jeffersonian Squints but mostly with _Bones,_ was that she was willing to do anything to find out the truth. When she said to someone that she'd find out who did this to his sister, or brother, or son, she really meant it. It wasn't just words thrown out, she really did everything in her power to find it, even if it sometimes meant to break off some rules. He liked that about her, because she was as dedicated to her work as he was. She really was the perfect partner, even if he just started to admit it to himself.

Booth was now driving to Brennan's place because he had received a phone call from Cullen telling him that they had just found two more bodies that had a wound to the right temple. A team was getting all the evidence they could from where they had found the bodies and it was sent to the Jeffersonian Institute. The bodies would be there for Dr. Brennan and her team to examine. "Soon." Cullen had told him. _Can't she just get a fucking night off? _Booth had told himself, knowing she was with Angela, trying to get her mind off of the events of the day.

As Booth parked his black SUV in front of Brennan's place, he saw two women on the porch who seemed to be having quite a nice time. They looked like they were dancing with each other. He grinned to himself and got out of the car, slamming the door, but neither women seemed to hear it since they were laughing so hard that even Angela had tears in her eyes.

He walked toward them and stood there, watching silently. They were twirling around and then stopped, Brennan's back toward Booth, so it was Angela who first saw him.

"Booth!" She happily yelled, which surprised Brennan. She jumped and turned to greet him, but in doing so her foot slipped back on the first step of the stairs and she lost her balance. Angela tried to catch her up, but she fell off the five stairs and ended up on Booth. She made him lose his balance and he then ended up lying on his back, on the grass, with Brennan on top of him.

"Hi Booth!" Tempe started to say, but couldn't stop herself from laughing out loud. Angela was on her knees, tears falling from her eyes, laughing out loud.

"If someone would have told me…I'd see you on top of Booth…before the end of the day," Angela was saying between laughs, "I probably wouldn't have believed him!" Both women were roaring with laughter and even Booth couldn't stop himself from giggling too.

"Are you okay?" He asked Temperance as she started to get off of him. He felt the loss of her body against his and saw that she was blushing and avoiding his gaze.

"I'm fine." She answered, trying to get off of him, but she seemed to always put her hands on the wrong places instead of on the grass to support herself. "Sorry…" She felt the need to explain her behavior. "I think I drank too much wine." And at that she started giggling again.

"Bones?" Booth said to her grinning.

"Yes?" She innocently answered back.

"Not that I'm complaining, but you're still on top of me." He explained, grinning.

"Oh…" And with that she giggled again. "Sorry…"

You could hear Angela choking behind her, on the verge of dying from laughter. "You guys, stop it! I can't take it anymore!" She was almost pleading, her hands on her stomach, trying to ease the pain coming from the overly tired muscles she used while laughing.

Brennan rolled off of Booth and ended up with her back on the cool grass. She didn't seem to be able to stop giggling. _That must be the effect of the wine._

Booth stood up and gave her his hand for help. She took it and with one movement he put her back on her two feet.

"Thanks." As she said those words she looked around and found out that suddenly everything seemed to twirl around. "Whoa…" Booth caught her as she lost her balance. "I'm fine. I'm fine." She said, standing on her two feet and focusing her eyes on him. Booth thought they looked really intense. "What are you doing here Booth?"

"I came to get you, but now I'm not so sure…" He said realizing she wasn't sober.

"You came to _get_ me?" She looked confused, and Angela was admiring the view from where she was sitting, sipping her last drop of wine.

"Yes, we found two more dead bodies. They are arriving at the lab as we speak."

"Really?" She silently thought for a minute and added: "Okay, let's go. I'll be fine in an hour if I drink coffee." She turned toward the brunette. "Angela?"

"Yeah?"

"There's work waiting for us. Are you up to it?"

"Give me a huge coffee and I'll be just fine. I'm not that drunk." _It's funny how you come back to reality when you are only on the verge of being drunk. Two dead bodies…I'd drink another glass of wine…_

Temperance turned towards Booth and flashed him a big smile. "We're not that drunk. After all, we only drank about three quarters of a bottle of wine each."

"Oh! Only that…" Booth replied, smiling.

"We drank that over two hours. We'll be fine." She carefully walked up the stairs and into the kitchen to get her and Angela's purse, and locked the front door. "We just need a big coffee and we'll be fine." She stopped walking and hesitantly asked: "You're driving, right?"

"Yeah Bones, I'm driving." He said back, pushing her towards his car with his hand on the small of her back. Angela reluctantly followed them and sat in the back seat of the car, besides Parker's safety car seat. _Great. I'm the third wheel._

"So, we have another dead body?" Angela wasn't as enthusiastic as her boss from the perspective of working all night.

"Two actually." Corrected Booth, smiling. Brennan turned her face to look at Angela while Booth turned the engine on and drove of.

"Come on Angela, we have another murder to solve, another body to search that will give us more answers. Don't you think it's great?" Angela murmured something inaudible as an answer, but from the look she had on her face, it wasn't probably something nice. Brennan really loved her job and never took it as a chore even when she was tired, and it made Booth smile.

"You know what Bones?" At that she turned to face Booth. "I think you're one of the rare people I know who just love their work. I see you when you concentrate your full attention on a dead body: your eyes just can't seem to leave it and you don't even let yourself blink just in case you'd miss something. It's pretty impressive."

"Thank you Booth." She appreciated the compliment.

"If only you'd concentrate your full attention on his _alive_ body like that instead of on dead people." Angela had meant to speak to herself, but she had said the words out loud, and was again smiling like the Cheshire cat, knowing she had been caught. Booth and Brennan both stared at each other with a horrifying look, ignoring the tingling sensation that had formed in their chests, and yelled at the same time:

"_Angela!"_

**(TBC)**


	6. And Then They Were Three

**A/N** Okay, I have to be honest with you, I've made some touch ups on this chapter. I just couldn't stop myself, and I am really sorry, because I ended up writing 12 pages! Please don't be mad! I have no idea if you guys like to read long or shorts ones, but I just can't write a 500 words chapter, I just can't do that, there are just not enough words! LOL! At least, I'm not posting 12 pages every 3 days, right? That should count for something…Anyway, please review, but don't throw tomatoes at me!  ja

I don't own anything related to Bones, so don't sue me.

XxXxX

_**Not In This Life**_

**Chapter six: And Then They Were Three**

On the way to the Jeffersonian Medico-Legal Laboratory, Booth stopped at a Starbucks coffee shop to get two large coffees for the women and a regular one for him. He looked at his watch, and read 21:56. He paid the girl who was behind the counter and walked to his car. As he opened the door of his black SUV to give the tray to Brennan, he heard the ending of the conversation between the two women and felt the animosity in the air.

He had no idea that while he had been gone Angela hadn't stop bombarding questions at Brennan about Booth. _Why are you telling me you won't sleep with him? _She was asking her anthropologist friend. _What is it you don't like about Booth? Don't you find him attractive? He's gorgeous! And he has an amazing body! Don't you find him smart? Do you think he's not good enough for you? Do you think you're not good enough for him? Wouldn't you want to know how his lips would feel on yours? Or even better, on your body? _Temperance was so confused about her feelings for her FBI partner that she didn't seem to be able to answer Angela, which made the latter very proud of herself. Just before Booth had opened the door of his car, Angela had murmured in Brennan's ear: _"Look at his hands…don't they seem gentle and soft?" _What Booth only heard was the following:

"Would you just stop it Angela!" Tempe's cheeks were pink and her voice was almost angry.

"What?" Innocently answered the brunette, unable to keep a serious face after pointing Booth's hands to Brennan from the back seat when he gave her the cup of coffee. "I didn't say anything!"

"You don't have to! You're so transparent!"

"Ladies!" Interfered Booth. "Do I have to put myself between the two of you?"

"That's an idea…" Answered Angela, raising one eyebrow and smiling devilishly.

"Angela…Angela…" Stated Booth, wanting to sound serious but wearing a crooked smile on the right corner of his mouth. "What will I do with you?"

"Anything you want Baby." She smiled at Booth, who shook his head in disbelief.

"Don't listen to her Booth," Said Brennan, looking exasperatedly from her friend to her partner. "I think she has lost all of her brain cells." He nodded to her and stayed silent, deciding it wasn't his fight, and entered the key in the ignition. He looked in the rear-view mirror and saw that Angela was widely smiling which gave him difficulties to suppress a smile.

XxXxX

Ten minutes later they were entering the lab. Booth went to speak to Hodgins while Brennan walked right into her office and closed the door behind her. She didn't know why she was so pissed off at Angela, when only half an hour ago they had been laughing out loud about anything. She sat on her couch and closed her eyes. _What's wrong with me? It's not the first time Angela is implying that I have sex with Booth, why is it bothering me now?_ The realization of it all would come to her later, but it was the implication that Angela had said to Booth that he could do anything to her body that had angered Brennan the most. Angela had of course said it on purpose to make her friend react, and to her satisfaction, it had worked. Angela thought that he was a great looking guy, but she also thought that the chemistry was too strong between Booth and Brennan to come between them, and it wasn't her intention.

Tempe took a sip of her coffee and put on her navy blue lab coat over her tank top. She walked down the stairs and decided to forget everything that had happen because it was starting to give her a headache. _Or maybe it's the wine…_

Angela was walking toward her to say something, but Brennan cut her off before she had a chance to speak. "It's okay Ange, forget about it."

"You know, I didn't…I wouldn't…" She started apologizing to her friend.

"It's not important."

"Yes it is." Angela took Brennan's arm as a demand for her to stop walking. "I wouldn't. EVER. I just want you to know that."

"He's not my property Angela, he can do as he pleases." As she said those words she realized she didn't really want him to do as he pleases with someone else. This must have shown on her face because Angela smiled warmly at her friend.

"Sweetie, if you don't make a decision soon, he might do as he pleases with somebody else." This seemed to get Brennan out of her reverie.

"I have to go work. Two bodies are waiting for me." She said, not wanting to answer Angela since it would mean she would acknowledge her feelings out loud. She approached the much-decomposed body remains lying on two separate sterile tables and examined them closer. Booth was standing on the other side of the table, arms crossed and listening intensely.

Zach started to brief her without hesitation. "Dr. Brennan, the two bodies were found about four hours ago by the team we sent to the Robertson mansion. As you can see the wide arc of the pelvis shows that both skeletons are female."

"Caucasians." Stated Brennan, her eyes not leaving the remains. "About thirty years of age?"

"Yes Dr, Brennan, the results concluded twenty-five to thirty for Jane Doe number one." He showed Brennan the body at her left. "And about thirty to thirty-five years old for Jane Doe number two."

"I'd say that both of them have been dead for at least five years." Hodgins started to say. "I'm waiting for the results to come back in." She put on latex gloves and took the skull of Jane Doe I in her hand.

"Her skull is intact so you can see the about 5mm wound just between the temporal and parietal bones on the right side." She took a surgical tool on the table and entered the wound until she couldn't go any further. "It's about 2cm deep." She went to see Jane Doe II and did the same thing. "It's the same wound, at the same place, 2cm deep also."

"We have the same killer as Julianne Edwards." Booth said, looking green and about to be sick. There were just some things a man couldn't stand, and it was very hard for Booth to be near dead people, skins or skeletons.

"Are you alright?" Brennan asked him out of concern.

"I'm fine Bones." He answered firmly, his manly pride hurt.

"Don't worry man." Said Hodgins teasing him. "If you faint, Zachary and I will elevate your legs on a chair."

"I won't faint, I said I'm fine." Booth wasn't about to faint and have the people who work with him laugh at him from the rest of his career saying_: "Do you remember when Booth fainted and we elevated his legs on a chair?" _They were crazy enough to take a picture for him to remember it too. No, he wasn't about to let it happen so he took a deep breath and let the cool air of the air-conditioned lab enter his lungs. It already felt better.

"Do you want a stool to sit on Agent Booth?" Zach asked him.

"I'm fine." He grunted.

"Guys, just leave him alone." Tempe said back to them before addressing herself to Booth. "Even if some people just never get used to being around dead people I don't think it will be your case, just give yourself some time."

"You should never get used to being around dead people Bones."

"Maybe not, but you'll get used to it with time."

"I don't think so."

"You got used to being around me, no?"

"What does it have anything to do with this?" He incredulously asked.

"You didn't like me at first Booth." She said, facing him and giving him a huge smile. "And now you do."

"_Like_ may be too strong of a word…" He answered back with a smile.

"Ah, ah, very funny." She gave him a grimace.

"Would you have preferred that she used the word _love_?" Cockily suggested Angela. It was now Booth's time to grimace at the brunette.

"Don't you start again Angela!" Threatened Brennan brows drawn together. "Go draw your faces!"

"Yes Boss!" Angela cheerily said, jumping on her feet and almost running to her office.

"Dr. Brennan?" Timidly said her assistant, asking for her attention.

"Yes Zach?"

"I found something that looks like cotton fiber on Jane Doe I…and a white pearl on a gold ring that was on the ring finger of her left hand." He seemed uncomfortable. "The thing is that it looks like white Egyptian cotton…I know because my mother was crazy about it and wore it all the time-"

"Get to the point Zach."

"I found the same fiber on Jane Doe II and what looks like a wedding ring also. The rings are fake."

"What do you mean by fake?" Asked Booth to the young man.

"They are not the real thing. They are cheap plastic zircons, they could even be like the ones kids can buy at a One Dollar Shop." This seemed to make Brennan and Booth think.

"There wasn't anything of the sort on Julianne Edwards's body." Brennan said more to herself than to anyone else.

"And we still don't know if they died boarding a cruise ship." Stated Booth.

"No, but there's the same wound on the right temple." Said Zach before he went to get the rings he had perfectly sealed off in plastic bags.

"Probably caused by a power drill." Brennan replied, thinking that she had to go get one and try it on her argyle models to make sure it was the right weapon. She turned toward Booth.

"Do you have a power drill at your house?"

"I swear to god Bones, I'm not the guy you're looking for." He said before giving her his charming smile. She narrowed her eyes and stared at Booth with an intensity that produced a warm sensation in his stomach.

"You're not?" She tilted her head on one's side and gave him the time to register what she had just said before she returned to her professional mode. _I can't believe I just said that! _"I have to try it on my argyle models to make sure it's the weapon that caused this wound." She said to him, pointing at the small hole in the skull.

"Yes, I have one in my garage."

"Bring it here tomorrow."

Zack came back with the rings and the samples of the thin white fabric. Both Booth and Brennan closely examined it through the plastic bags. "The DNA found within the two skeletons were the ones found on the pieces of cotton from each Jane Doe."

"And the rings?"

"No prints either."

"Damn!" Booth had hoped the killer had slipped somewhere and had made a mistake, even if he knew it was most unlikely. "Damn those serial killers and their high IQs!"

"My IQ is 175 and I'm not wandering around killing people." Logically stated Brennan.

"Mine is 170 and I don't either." Zach turned around and faced Booth. "What is yours Agent Booth?"

"I don't know." Honestly answered Booth. "I've never taken a test to find out."

"I'd say about 150." Seriously stated Tempe to Booth.

"Are you telling me Bones, that you think I'm dumb?" Indignantly exclaimed Booth.

Zach smiled and Tempe started laughing. After a few giggles, she explained to Booth that an IQ of 150 was actually very good, MENSA good. "It takes an IQ of about 110 to go to College without having any real difficulties. If you take Zach and I, we are both over 170, we must be in the top 1 per cent of the general population. We're geniuses." She said without false modesty. "You are a smart guy, you know a lot of different things, you are not closed to other cultures and have a great capacity to analyze. So with all of that, I'd say you're about 150. I'm sure you are above the general population Booth, which is about 110. I'm telling you that you are an intelligent person Booth. Don't make me take it back."

"Thanks." He said, proudly adjusting the collar of his shirt.

"I could give you a test if you want?"

"I don't need a piece of paper to know I'm smart, but thank you for the offer."

"It's just fun to know." _Chicken…_

"Maybe later, when I don't have to chase any serial killers or rapists." Booth said, knowing he will unfortunately always have one to chase. "By the way, do you think they were raped?"

"It's a possibility." Stated Brennan, a grave look on her face. Booth sighted deeply.

"I want to catch this guy!" _We may need a profiler on this…_

"Anything is possible, but I'm with you that it's probably a man."

"A left handed man." He then saw the look on Brennan's face as she was staring at him, smiling. "What?"

"That's why I gave you an IQ of 150. You saw that the wounds to the temple were on the right side of the skull, so it meant that the killer held his weapon with his left hand for precision." Brennan gestured the movement as she explained to Booth.

"Exactly." He grinned.

"Zach?" The anthropologist was looking for her assistant.

"Yes, Dr. Brennan?" He said from behind a computer.

"Can you tell Angela to come see us when she'll be done with her drawings?"

"Of course Dr. Brennan." He then returned to what he was doing behind his computer screen.

"Thank you Zach, we'll be in my office." She took the manila folder of both Jane Does and walked with Booth to her office. "Coffee?" She asked him after looking at the clock.

"It's almost midnight Bones."

"I know, but I need the caffeine." _I'm exhausted…_

Booth studied her for a moment and came to the conclusion that she did look very tired. He stood up and went to get two coffee mugs and a small cartoon of milk in the kitchenette while Brennan prepared some coffee and took off her lab coat.

"Are you alright?" He asked her out of concern. "I hate to tell you this but you look awful."

"I feel awful." She answered, letting herself fall on her office couch. "I haven't slept in what seems like a week." _Actually, I've been sleep deprived all my life._

"I'm not helping either, you know, bringing cases to you at any time of the day or night."

"Hey, don't worry about it, I love to work with you. I just haven't had a good night sleep since…" She stopped and welcomed the mug full of fresh coffee that Booth was giving her. "Thanks…since I found my mother's remains."

"It's understandable." Booth put his mug on the coffee table next to the manila folder, took off his jacket and loosened his tie. Tempe stared at him.

"I don't know how you can wear that all day."

"Wear what?" He asked, sitting to her right on the sofa.

"A tie." She said, gently touching the silkiness of the small piece of clothing between her fingers. He stared at her and couldn't believe that a simple touch from her was enough to make his heart beat faster. Her hand was still caressing the soft fabric but her eyes were dark and glassy, like her thoughts were far away from this place in time and space. He saw her coming back to reality as her eyes became focused again and she lightly smiled. She finally put her hand back on her thigh. "I'd feel like someone was strangling me all day long."

"It's like being around you Bones, you get use to it." Booth said to her, a light smile on the corner of his mouth. She punched him in the arm playfully.

"Ouch!" He faked, rubbing his arm with his hand.

"Wimp."

"Nah…it's not that bad."

"What?" She point blankly asked Booth. "Being around me, wearing the tie, or the punch?" He looked at her and was tempted to say the tie or the punch, but he decided to be adult about it.

"You, of course." He stared at her and saw her smile before she took a sip of her coffee. "At least when you're not beating me."

"Beating you!" She controlled herself not to burst out laughing. "Aren't you just a bit exaggerating?"

"You know I am. I've sustained more injuries than a poke in the arm and I've survived." She watched him intensely, and didn't say anything funny about this because he rarely talked about the time when he was in the army.

"I know." She finally said. She took the manila folder, opened it and started to read. They were back to work. "Their levels of asbestos, copper, sodium and metallic sulfides are the same as the level found in Julianne Edwards remains." Booth took the folder from Brennan's hands and studied it.

"Jane Doe I has the left wrist broken by what looks like handcuffs, and Jane Doe II has a fracture of the right tibia caused by a wide object." Booth read in the folder. "Both skeleton had injuries on the parietal bone near the temporal junction, and on each sides of the mandibula." As he said those words, Brennan stood up and went to fetch some anatomical book to show him exactly where it was on the skull. Booth studied the picture, nodded and continued his reading. "A wound of 5mm wide and 2cm deep was found on both victims on the right temple. Death was caused by a power drill to the right temple." Booth grimaced as he said the last words.

"It's sick." Temperance stated, shivering.

"Is it possible that the girls were already dead when he took their heads for a piece of wood?" Booth asked her, hope in his voice.

"No, they were definitely alive. I think that the scratches we found at the junction of the temporal and parietal bones and on each sides of the mandibula was something metallic to keep the head in place while he pierced." Related the anthropologist.

"Like _The Man In The Iron Mask_." Booth said, sure that Brennan would reply her famous _I-don't-know-what-that-means_ quote.

"Not exactly, because King Louis XIV 's mask was plain and that one has to only be like one part for the forehead and one part for the chin."

"Bones! I'm impressed!" Surprisingly said Booth to her, smiling. "You've seen the movie!"

"No, I haven't Booth." She said as she saw the joy leave Booth's face. "I've read Alexandre Dumas's _The Man In The Iron Mask_ book in high school."

"I should have known…" He grunted between his teeth.

"I know, there's no hope for me, right?" She said annoyed. She would really like to fit in, but sometimes, she just couldn't. Booth stared at her, amusement in his eyes and finally spoke.

"Nah…there's still hope for you Bones." _There is._

"You think?" _I'm not so sure…_

"I'm sure." He pointed to his stomach as he added: "Gut instinct."

"You and your gut." Brennan replied, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.

"Don't insult my gut feeling. It already saved your life, and more than once." _And probably will again…_

"You're right. I'm sorry Gut." She said she leaned in towards his stomach slightly. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings." She glanced back up at Booth, saw him chuckled as this seemed to satisfy him. Brennan up righted herself and they went on to the Jane Does files while they waited for the DNA results and the drawings from Angela.

XxXxX

When Angela finished her drawings, she walked up the stairs to Brennan's office but when she walked pass the threshold, she was surprised to find Booth and Brennan both asleep on the couch. Angela suppressed a cry of joy and started to dance the 'Victory Dance' for like 30 seconds, then she just stared at them and grinned.

Booth's legs were lying on the coffee table, his left arm was around Temperance while her head was resting comfortably on his chest, and her left arm was lying flat on his abdomen. _It looks like they've found each other in their sleep. _Angela held her breath, not wanting to wake them up, and walked back out of Brennan's office, closing the door behind her and putting the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door handle.

"Why are you smiling like that?" Asked Hodgins to Angela when he walked in her direction.

"Because I'm happy Jack." She said as she returned to her office.

"Not many people can say that." He replied before going back to work

XxXxX

It was getting clearer outside as the sun started to rise, but it wasn't what made Agent Booth wake up. Something near his body felt heavy and warm, and as he stirred out of his reverie, he moved is arm up and felt something very soft under it. He opened his eyes and found out Temperance Brennan sleeping peacefully besides him, her head resting on his chest, right above his heart while her hand was lying flat on his stomach. The surprise of it made him jump a bit but it didn't make her wake up, instead she moaned something inaudible and squeezed herself closer to him. _What the…?_

As she had moved herself closer, Booth realized that what he had felt under his hand was her bare skin. As they had both been sleeping, Booth's hand had crawled under her tank top and had rested itself on the small of her back. Now he didn't know what to do, having his hand in mid air, not knowing if he should put it back or not. He suddenly felt very awkward and nervous, and remembered the time when he had been sixteen years old and didn't know what to do with himself because he was growing too fast and moved weirdly. _This is ridiculous! _He took a deep breath to calm himself but it didn't do any miracle since a sweet and soft flowery sent now possessed his olfactory sense and didn't want to leave. _Jesus! _He decided to put back his hand where it had been only moments ago, but found out the feeling was even worst than before, because now his hand had to stay put. He found out this was a very difficult task and moved his hand over her skin, letting his fingers slide on her side. The silkiness of her skin drove him to the point where he wished he could ravage her entire body. _I have to wake her up._

"Bones…" He softly said, tossing out of her face with his free hand the lock of hair that had been blocking his view. She moved in her sleep, absently caressing his well toned stomach over his shirt and finally rested her hand on his belt. _Jesus Bones! _He closed his eyes and suddenly saw how she had looked in her wet clothes that day. _No, no, no, no, not good! Think about something else! _Booth's heart was racing, he was starting to get aroused and the fact that Brennan was the cause of it was really confusing. _It's Bones for God's sake! Think about something else! Anything else! _But his mind couldn't stop showing him her full lips, the perfect line of her neck, the roundness of her breasts and the curve of her hips. _No, no, no! This is insane!_

He wanted to deny everything, but his body just couldn't stop reacting. _If I have an erection and she wakes up and finds me like this, she'll kill me. No, it will be much worse, I will want to die. Think about Parker man! Your mother! Think about Zach! _This seemed to be efficient enough for Booth to regain control of his body and calm him down. _Good!_

After a few deep breaths, he allowed himself to stare at her, because it was a rare thing he could do without her noticing him. _What's going on with me? Really…Bones! _He surprised himself as he caressed her cheek, but he had to put his hand back on his side as he saw that she was waking up.

XxXxX

At first Temperance opened her eyes and blinked a few times for them to come in focus. She saw that she was in her office but something felt different. She turned her head a bit on the side as if she wanted to burry it in her pillow but found Booth's chest instead. She stared at the white shirt for a moment, trying to remember how she had gotten there, and saw that her hand was lying on his belt. She took her hand off of his belt and it just stood in mid air, not really knowing what to do with it , which made Booth smile. She moved to stand up a bit on her right arm, turned her face toward Booth and found a pair of dark brown eyes staring at her. He was smiling. _He really is good looking!_

"Good morning Bones." He said with a hoarse voice.

"Hey Booth." She looked confused. "How did we end up like this?"

"I have no idea." He said after clearing his voice. She pushed herself up with her arms and sat on the couch. Booth did the same and then stared at the floor. "By the look of the papers lying everywhere, I'd say we fell asleep reading the file." Tempe looked at her watch and saw that it was almost five o'clock, which surprised her even more than waking up in Booth's arms.

"It's five in the morning?" She exclaimed herself. "I've slept like a rock!"

"Me too." Said Booth, passing a hand through his hair.

"I don't get it…" She softly said, thoughtful.

"What don't you get?" He dared asking and saw her blush.

"Nothing…it's not important." She was trying to get away with it, but Booth wasn't about to let it go.

"Tell me." He insisted.

"Fine." She resigned herself to tell him. "It's just that usually, when I sleep with a man…" Her cheeks were now a dark pink and it amused him. "Well, with someone else besides me, I don't get much sleep." She didn't seem to be able to look at him in the eyes. _Is it hot in here? Or is it just me?_

"I see…" He didn't know what to say.

"And also, I haven't gotten a lot of sleep this past week, so…I don't know…I'm surprised, that's all." _Stop explaining!_ She told herself as she stood up. _Focus on work! _

"I'm glad I could be of services!" He cheerily said back, standing up on his two feet and following her out of the office.

"Thanks, I really feel rested." _I haven't felt this good in ages!_

"Anytime Bones." _Anytime…_

"Does it mean I can call you if I want to sleep with you again?" She cheerily said as she was walking down the stairs, Booth just behind her. The realization of what she had just said fully hit her and she stopped walking. She turned around to find her face buried in Booth's chest. "I didn't mean-" She started explaining as Booth took her by the shoulders, turned her around for her to continue walking, and then replied with a hoarse voice:

"Of course you didn't."

**(TBC)**


	7. Corpse Bride

**A/N** I'm so happy about the reviews I received. Thank you so much! This sure gave me the inspiration to write more. It's very motivating! You guys rock! Thanks again, and keep pushing that button at the end of the page!

This chapter is for Gayle, my beta reader, who is always telling me how wonderful this story is. Gayle, you're my muse. 

Get well soon.

As usual, I don't own anything related to Bones.

XxXxX

**Chapter seven: Corpse Bride**

_Jeffersonian Medico-Lab_

It hadn't taken long for Angela to run towards her favorite pair, when they had walked down the stairs to go to the lab, to slyly ask: _"So, did you sleep well?"_ The question was answered by Brennan with a _"Never better." _Angela had been happy with the answer her friend had given her.

Then, from sunrise to noon, the Squints and Booth had been busy running DNA tests and exploring the other disappearances that had occurred while boarding a cruise ship. The match gave names to the two unknown victims: Jane Doe One's name was Sophie Newton, a woman of twenty-five years old who had disappeared on June 25th, 2001 while her husband had gone to make sure the suitcases were getting on the ship. He had been away for only ten minutes and when he had come back, Sophie was nowhere to be seen. Her purse had been found near the parking lot. Jane Doe Two was Evelyn Thompson, the first woman who had disappeared over the same circumstances on May 14th, 2000.

"They both had been newlyweds." Booth told everybody, as they all had gathered around the 3-D pictures of Sophie Newton and Evelyn Thompson.

"This should have been the most beautiful day of their lives." Sympathetically said Angela in a sad tone of voice. "Not get kidnapped and then killed."

"They weren't killed right away." Corrected Brennan. "Death by a power drill to the right temple occurred about six months after their disappearances." Dr. Goodman and Angela shuddered.

"We're now dealing with a Cruise Ship Serial Killer." Said Hodgins, thoughtful, and then he turned to face the FBI Agent. "Did they all use the same Cruise Line?"

"No Jack, I checked." Booth looked at the file Cullen had faxed him over an hour ago. "One of them was with the Pacific Cruise Line, and the other two were with the Tropical Cruise Line."

"Do you have any idea Agent Booth," Dr. Goodman started to ask. "Who this Cruise Ship Serial Killer could be, to repeat Dr. Hodgins own words?"

"No Sir." Booth passed his fingers through his hair and over his face, looking discouraged. "He didn't make any mistake."

"This guy cleaned up every piece of evidence, if there was any." Added Brennan. "Nothing was found."

"I see." He looked disappointed.

"I really think we should use the help of a profiler on this." Suggested Booth as he looked at Brennan. She stayed silent but pressed her lips together. He could see she wasn't happy about this. "Don't take it personally Bones, this bastard is very clever. If there had been anything to find, you would have." _'Cause you're the best._

"I want to outsmart him."

"We might Bones, just not the way we thought we would."

"How then, if not scientifically?" She was very doubtful. Booth took out his cell phone and lifted his index in mid-air to tell her to stay quiet.

"It's Booth. Give me Gayle Brown's office. Thanks." He waited a few seconds. "Gayle, it's Booth…I'm fine, and you?…Great…I need your expertise on a case…Yes, today if possible…Great…You're an angel…I'll see you later…Yes, I'll deal with Cullen…I know…Bye." He hung up, smiled and stared at his partner. "We have a meeting in my office at 1:00 pm with Gayle Brown. She's the best profiler in town."

Tempe silently nodded before looking at her watch. "It's almost noon, who's up for Wong Foo's?" Everybody had his or her hand up, which made her laugh. "Dr. Goodman?"

"No Dr. Brennan, but thank you for offering. I'm going home for lunch." _Or my wife may kill me._

"If you say so." Said Hodgins, happy the archeologist wasn't going to the restaurant with them. Goodman mumbled something under his breath and left.

Angela and Hodgins were walking to his car, Zach was several steps behind in deep thought. She glanced back to make sure Zach couldn't hear her, and asked a question that had been burning her for quite some time.

"What is it with you and Goodman?"

"We just don't like each other." He answered as if it was obvious. "It's chemistry."

"Chemistry, right…you two act as if you were kids. I keep waiting for one of you to say: _My-father's-bigger-than-yours!" _She teased.

"It's more like _my-father's-richer-than-yours_." Stated Hodgins, and Angela smiled, knowing Hodgins's family donate almost half of the funds the Jeffersonian gets every year.

"I think it's more like who's the boss of whom."

"What can I tell you, my brain's bigger than his. It's not my fault if his brain is the size of a pea." _He!He!He!_

"Oh, grow up Jack!"

"I stopped growing at 5 feet 6 inches when I was 18!" He smiled at her as she laughed.

"You know that's not what I meant."

"Look Angela, I don't mind receiving orders from Dr. Brennan, or even from Booth when he's cranky. I just don't like Goodman."

"But Goodman's a good man." She was proud of the little word game she had just pulled.

"I already told you Ange, it's chemistry." He sighed. "You're the first to say chemistry passes between Booth and Brennan, right? Chemistry between two people doesn't always need to be sexual. It's the same thing with a buddy or a best friend: you like each other because chemistry passes between the two of you. Well, it doesn't between Goodman and me. We were not made to like each other."

"You could try." She batted her eyes at him and smiled.

"You know I'd do anything for you Ange, but it's hopeless. This discussion is over." He said as Zach approached them to get in the back seat of the red Mini Cooper for the drive to Wong Foo's.

XxXxX

_FBI, Edgar Hoover Headquarters_

_13:00_

Tempe had been sitting comfortably on a chair in front of Booth's desk for five minutes when the profiler crossed the threshold of the agent's office. She instantly saw her partner's eyes light up, and a huge smile spread over his face.

"Hey Baby!" He said as he got up and went to greet Gayle Brown with a warm embrace. Brennan uncomfortably shifted in her seat. _Well, well, don't they look all cozy! _The woman was about forty years old, 5 feet 5 inches, shoulder length blond hair, blue eyes, and a nice smile. Temperance could see the intelligence in the woman's eyes. She thought that probably not much could pass by the profiler without her noticing it first.

"Seeley, Honey, it's so good to see you!" Gayle exclaimed herself with true emotions. "It's been too long!"

"I know it's been too long! You know how it is, work and everything." He kissed her on the cheek and took a good look at her. "You look great!" She smiled at him and shook her head.

"Always the charmer I see. Some things change, and some don't. Speaking of changes…How's Parker doing? He must have grown up!"

"Yeah, he has." Booth said, proudly showing her the picture of his son that he kept in his wallet. "He's such a great kid. He turned six last month."

"He's a good looking boy." She said, studying the picture.

"He got his good looks from his father." Teased the agent while proudly straightening his jacket. Both women snorted.

"He sure did." Stated Gayle as she saw the woman behind Booth roll her eyes to the ceiling in exasperation, but smiling all the same. Gayle started to open her mouth to introduce herself since the Agent seemed to forget his manners, but Booth cut her off first.

"How are Tom and the kids?"

"They're doing great. Healthy, happy, and smart." She answered him before she turned her head towards Brennan, who had stood up when the woman had entered the office, and presented her hand to her. "You have to excuse us, we haven't seen each other in a long time. My name is Gayle Brown." She turned to face Booth and shook her head negatively. "Seeley, I'm disappointed in you. Where are your manners?" She then winked at Brennan, who smiled at her and shook her hand.

"I'm Temperance Brennan, Booth's partner." Brennan slightly felt uncomfortable in front of such easiness from Booth and Gayle towards each other, but she tried not to let it show.

"FBI?" She asked. "I've seen you before."

"No, she's not." Answered Booth with a snort. "She's _Doctor_ Brennan, from the Jeffersonian Medico-Lab."

"I'm a Forensic-Anthropologist." She corrected.

"I'm a profiler, with a PhD in Criminal-Psychology." Gayle also corrected, smiling. She looked more closely at Brennan and now recognized where she had seen her. "I've read your book! It's pretty good!" Brennan smiled back at the profiler, and Booth let out a snort that both women heard but decided to ignore.

"Thank you."_ He's so jealous._

"You almost had me confused at one point in the book about the murderer, but eventually, I found out who it was."

"Oh…" _Gulp!_

"No, no! It's a compliment. I usually find out in the first 50 pages of a book, yours took about 150 pages."

"Oh…thanks." _I think._

"Okay ladies, enough of that chit-chat." Booth said, rubbing his hands together. "Lets talk business!"

"Of course." Gayle said as both women sat on the two chairs in front of Booth's desk. He started to explain the entire case of the Cruise Ship Serial Killer to the profiler who silently listened and took notes on a small pad she had taken out of her pocket. Booth told her how the three girls were kidnapped, and Brennan explained how they died. They showed Gayle the pictures that had been taken at the Robertson Mansion, and those of the women when they had still been alive. He explained the fake rings, the Egyptian cotton fabric found on the remains, and that they were all newlyweds going on their honeymoons when they disappeared.

"Hmmm…" Gayle thoughtfully murmured. "I see." She stayed silent again for about 30 seconds and then spoke. "Those women were beautiful, and they looked happy." She added as she stared at their pictures.

"Tell me what you think Gayle, anything would be great." Booth asked the profiler.

"Okay." She put the note pad on her legs, closed the pen and stared at Booth. "I think you ought to look for a man of about 30 to 40 years of age. He is psychologically imbalanced from never having been loved by his mother as a child. As a teen, this guy was shy, not particularly popular and could pass unknown at school. He most likely didn't have a date to go with at his High School Prom also. Something happened with a woman as a grown man that drove him to the edge of madness; he lost control and decided to regain it by kidnapping those women. They were all newlyweds, and newlyweds are usually happy people. Like happy perky, and annoying everyone around them with their happiness and it's making him sick to see that. The fake rings and white fabric found on the bodies tell me that he must dress the women as brides. He kills them months later when he gets bored and decides to get a new one."

"I want to get this bastard Gayle." Booth said with conviction.

"Don't we all?" She asked. "Look, I'm sorry I can't give you the home address of the killer, I don't know it. I can just give you clues to help you find him."

"I know." He breathed deeply. "I'm sorry."

"Look, I'd say this guy's job isn't something very spectacular, it's very low profile. He is smart, and must study his victims before acting. He must be close to the Cruise Line, but probably not the travel agents, because it would be too obvious. He may work there, or follow them there. He knew those women were happy newlyweds. He does his homework well."

"Tell me about it." Booth grunted.

"Should we investigate the Cruise Line?" Brennan asked Booth.

"If he knows the FBI is getting close to him." The profiler started to say. "He'll disappear. He's a smart guy, but you'll need to be smarter than him."

"Surprise him at his own game?" The anthropologist asked the profiler.

"Exactly." Gayle looked intensely at Brennan, and then at Booth, and a smile spread progressively on her lips. Booth's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"What do you have in mind Gayle?" He dared to ask his old friend.

"You two have to go undercover as newlyweds." She answered him in one breath, knowing he'd probably want to strangle her. After all, she knew him as well as she knew herself.

"WHAT?" They both cried at the same time. "NO!" Brennan and Booth looked at each other and then at the floor. Gayle saw they were uncomfortable.

"No, no, no, no, no." Repeated Booth.

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes." She was amused by their horrified look. "You have to pose as a happy couple getting married in a few weeks and preparing for your honeymoon."

"I don't think so." Stated Booth, violently shaking his head. "No way. Nope, nada."

"Don't act childish Seeley Booth!" Gayle said, her brows inclined in a way that they almost touched. "What is so repulsive about the idea of being in love with that beautiful woman?" She asked, pointing at Brennan, who just awkwardly stared at the floor, her face livid, speechless.

"Nothing!" He said, jumping on his feet and walking around his office. "It's just…It's not…I…" _No, no, no, no, no…_

"What?" Gayle stood up and walked toward Brennan. "She's gorgeous! Attractive! She's exactly what the killer is looking for." Booth saw an opportunity and jumped on it.

"You see? Exactly! I don't want to put her life in danger! This is too dangerous, I won't risk it." He walked back to his desk and sat on it besides Brennan.

"You're being stupid Seeley." Gayle stated before turning to face Brennan. "You're what? About 30-32 years old?"

"Yes." Reluctantly answered Tempe. _I'm not sure I like where this is going._

"Perfect." The woman happily stated.

"Perfect my ass." Said Booth between his teeth. _It's not perfect at all…_

"You don't think she's perfect?" The profiler asked her old FBI friend.

"Huh? What! Well…" He didn't know what to say anymore.

"Look Booth." Brennan finally decided to speak after being able to swallow the idea. "We want to catch him, right?" She asked him, turning her head to face him since he was sitting right beside her on his desk. "I'm not very happy with the idea either, if you really want to know, but I think it's worth a shot if it means that we could catch the killer." He deeply sighed. "Am I so awful?" She asked indignantly.

"Bones…" He let out a breath. "No, you're not awful, it's just…We're work partners." He ran a hand through his tick dark brown hair. "I don't know if it's such a good idea."

"We are both mature adults Booth. At least, on my part." She smiled at him when he grimaced. "Look, I think we can be professional about it."

"You think you can act as if you're a very happy perky woman about to get married to a stud like me?" He asked her, now wearing his charm smile.

"Yes Booth, believe it or not, I took drama classes in school." _I'm not sure I'll have to act that much anyway…_

Gayle stared at them and was happy that they finally agreed to do it. _Cullen will have my head on a hot plate. _"There will be work to do. You two really have to pass as love birds for the killer to believe in your relationship and your happiness." She stayed silent for as moment. "You need to live together for a while."

"For god's sake!" Exclaimed Booth, his hand covering his eyes. "I can't take this anymore."

"What!" Almost yelled Tempe. "Living together? No way!" _I need my space._

"You have to." The profiler didn't want to let it go. "At least for a week. You need to stop being so constipated around each other."

"We are not!" They both said in unison.

"You are. It's like you guys are afraid to touch each other. You always stand at a certain distance." They stayed quiet, because Gayle wasn't really wrong about this. "You need to live together to learn things about each other, to get comfortable around each other, to feel each other. You need to be believable, to be able to compliment each other's mannerism and be totally into each other."

"You're insane." _She's worse than Angela._

"For God's sake Booth! I'm not asking you to sleep with her!" Gayle exasperatedly said to Booth.

"Oh-my-god." Brennan murmured to herself. _Kill me now._

"Well, if you do it's none of my business, but-"

"Gayle Brown…" Booth said her name in a very low voice, and the look on his face meant _shut-up-or-something-very-bad-may-happen-to-you-in-a-very-near-future._

"Gorgeous as you are Honey," She said to Tempe completely ignoring Booth, "If I were a man, I'd probably want to get my hands on you. Don't worry about Seeley, he's a stupid man not to want you." _I know you better than you think Seeley Booth, and I know this woman doesn't make you indifferent! I know you like the bottom of my pocket. _

"I never said that." He was rubbing his temple, starting to get a headache.

"Excuse me?" Said Brennan, astonished. _You want me?_

"So, you do want her?" Asked the profiler, grinning. _I've been waiting for him to find the right woman for 20 years…Could it be her?_

"I never said that either."

"What did you say then?" It was Brennan's turn to question the man, with her eyebrows raised and her hands on her hips looking positively intrigued, who right now seemed to want to plunge a knife right through his heart.

"Nothing." He ran a hand over his face, and sighed. Both women stared at him, eyes narrowed in suspicion. "I said nothing!" He repeated to defend himself. "Look Bones, you and I? This is crazy. We won't be able to pull this off." _We wont?_ "Nobody will believe us." _What if I start to believe it? What then?_

"I can't believe _I'm_ the one actually saying this Booth, but isn't it worth it to at least try? I mean, we are trying to catch a killer here!" _Why do I want this so much?_

"We'll want to kill each other before the end of the week." _Who am I trying to convince here?_

"You think?" _We'll see…_

"I don't know." He sighed again. "Gayle, you really think this could work?"

"If you can make people believe you two are crazy in love about each other, than yes, I think this could work." She looked at the couple and smiled. _They look good together; too bad they live in the Land Of Denial. _"I'd change your hair though Dr. Brennan, like getting highlights or something, to change your look a bit since you are known to the world." Brennan looked at a lock of her hair and shrugged.

"I was thinking about changing it anyway."

"So, you love birds are ready to rumble?"

"What do you think Baby?" Booth asked Temperance, in a lovy dovy tone and a playful smile on his face.

She smiled back at her partner and put her arms around him, beginning to play the part, staring right into his dark brown eyes. "Honey, if you're ready to handle me, I'm in."

Leaning in to her to play along, "Oh Baby…I can handle you with one hand." Booth said in a low tone of voice, a wicked smile on his handsome face.

**(TBC)**


	8. For Better Or Worse

**A/N** Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed. I was very happy I got so many. Thank you! And keep pushing that button at the end of the page!

As usual, I don't own _Bones_, and I'm not making money out of this.

XxXxXxX

_**Not In This Life**_

**Chapter eight: For Better or Worse**

After Gayle Brown had gotten out of Booth's office, they had talked about where they should go, whether or not they should go to Booth's place or Brennan's for the week. They had finally decided that it was better to go to Booth's place. The arguments that had won over was that Parker was supposed to come see his father this Saturday, and Booth had added something like: "I also own a TV, and a DVD player, which you don't." Brennan had said that it was a good point.

Booth decided that now was the best time to go talk to Cullen to explain the situation. The Assistant Director wasn't very happy about this, but seeing the embarrassment in both the agent and the doctor's faces, he decided not to worsen the situation. Since the death of his daughter Amy, Cullen had gone softer on Brennan. Softer, yes, but not mad. He still wasn't about to let her handle a gun anytime soon.

As they walked out of the Cullen's office, Booth looked at his watch. It was 2:44pm. They decided they still had time to interview Sophie Newton and Evelyn Thompson's parents. It took them 45 minutes to get to Sophie Newton's parent's house and inform them that their daughter had been found dead.Mr. and Mrs. Newton were devastated at the news of their daughter's death, but at the same time it did provide closure to the grieving couple. They told Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan that they didn't know of anybody who would want to harm their daughter.They offered their condolences and before they left Booth handed the couple his card and asked them to please call if they remembered anything else that seemed important.

The same kind of event happened with Evelyn Thompson's parents, and the pair left the house empty handed.

"We're getting nowhere." Said Brennan.

"Yeah…it's really disturbing." Added Booth as they both walked back to the SUV. "Nobody knows anything. My best guess is that the husbands are as clueless."

"Gut feeling?" Asked Tempe with a smile.

"Yep! Gut feeling." Answered Booth, opening the door of his black SUV.

"It's almost 5pm Booth, I think we better go back. I'm hungry."

"Yeah, me too." She saw a vein pop on his right temple. _Stress._ She knew he was thinking about her coming back to his place tonight.

"I can sleep at home tonight Booth." She said as she saw him sigh. "I'll pack my suitcase for tomorrow." _It will give me more time to calm down, and him to de-stress!_

"No Bones, it's okay." He turned to face her as he stopped the car on a red light. "The sooner we do this, the sooner we'll catch this guy." _And the sooner I'll stop being so damn nervous!_

"Right." _Damn!_

XxXxX

Booth dropped Tempe off at her apartment and then drove back to his place to do a bit of clean up, get the guest room ready for her and prepare something quick for dinner.

As she was putting her clothes in a suitcase, Temperance got a call from Angela.

"Hi Sweetie! I wanted to know if it was okay for me to come and get you at 7:00pm tonight to practice what we talked about."

"What did we talk about?" _We talk about a lot of things._

"For Zach's birthday party!" She desperately said. "Don't tell me you already forgot?"

"No, no, Ange, I didn't forget. I just have a lot on my mind right now." _Like Booth…_

"What's wrong?" She asked out of concern.

"Hum…" Brennan wasn't sure if she should tell her friend and was evasive with her answer. "You know what, I don't need to practice."

"But I do." Angela firmly said.

"Okay then…but…I won't be _here_ at 7:00pm. In fact, I won't be living here for the next couple of days." She reluctantly told the brunette.

"Why? What happened? A flood? A fire? Are you hurt? Where will you sleep?"

"Ange! Stop! At least give me time to answer!" She cried out of desperation.

"I'm sorry Sweetie, go on."

"Are you sitting down?" Brennan asked as she took a deep breath to give her the strength to tell her friend the big news. _She'll have a stroke._

"Oh-My-God." _She's dying. She has cancer._

"I'm fine…I'lljustbelivingwithBoothforthenextweekorso." Brennan said very quickly and waited to hear her friend scream her joy, but she heard nothing. "Angela? Are you still alive?"

"Yes." She finally answered, a huge smile on her face. _Thank you God!_ "What happened?" _I knew Jimmy Malone from 4th grade was wrong when he told me God wouldn't answer my prayers anymore because I had lifted up my skirt in front of him to show him what girls looked like! _

"Booth and I met this profiler this afternoon, her name is Gayle Brown. She's an old friend of his." Brennan paused after saying that; not knowing why she had thought it was necessary to tell Angela that fact. "Well, she thinks that Booth and I have to go undercover as newlyweds to catch the killer." She heard some kind of squeak on the other end of the phone.

"As newlyweds?" Repeated the brunette as she tried to keep a steady composure in her voice but was failing terribly. She was happy her friend wasn't seeing her right now because she was jumping up and down in her living room, grinning like a kid that had just been handed a bowl full of candy.

"Yeah…She thinks it's better for us to live together to learn to be _comfortable_ around each other to be able to fool the Cruise Ship Serial Killer."

"Smart woman." Only replied Angela. _I love her!_

"She is an intelligent woman, but I'm not so sure Booth and I living together is such a smart idea."

"Why?" _It's genius!_

"What if we end up killing each other?" She reluctantly asked, genuinely afraid it might actually happen.

"What if you end up licking each other?" Angela casually suggested.

"Did you just say _licking_?" Tempe asked her friend, a smile on her lips, not surprised she would actually suggest that. _That's a thought…_

"I meant _liking_ each other." Angela corrected, laughing. _Nah…I meant licking._

"I think it's safe to say that we do _like_ each other Ange." _We're good friends now._

"Sweetie, I meant _more than friends_." The artist explained to Brennan, who stayed silent. "Anyway, did you exchange the rings?" She teased.

"Oh god!" Temperance almost cried out. "I didn't think about that!" _It will be so awkward…_

"It will be difficult to pass as a real couple Brenn if you guys don't wear wedding rings."

"I know, I know. You're right." _How the hell will I tell him that?_

"Of course I'm right." _I'm always right._

"Your ego must be so proud right now." Brennan told her friend with a smile on her face.

"You have no idea…"Angela replied with satisfaction.

"I have one of my mother's ring's that I could wear. It fits my finger, I've tried it." She sighed. _Oh god._

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Angela asked, knowing this was a bit too much for her friend right now.

"Yes, I need for you to go get my mail and water my plants if possible. In case the killer does follow us, I don't want to jeopardize the case."

"Sure. No problem." Angela was so happy that she was going to stay at Booth's house for the next couple of days that she was willing to do anything. "Have you packed your cases?"

"That's what I'm doing right now."

"Put in a sexy nightgown or two." Angela cockily suggested. "Like the blue and black one we bought together."

"Angela!" _Someone should stop her!_

"Trust me. You have to always be prepared for every situation."

"I'm not a boyscout Ange."

"No, but you'll thank me when you'll need it.You know, keep by bed in case of FIRE! so you're not running out naked."

Brennan let out a laugh. "Don't be stupid. We're just friends." Tempe rectified. "Seriously, what would I look like if he saw me wearing it?"

"Amazing." _He'd probably want to jump you in a nanosecond!_

Brennan snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm only going there on a professional basis." As she said those words, she was looking at the sexy piece of lingerie, trying to decide if she should put it in there or not. "We're just friends." The anthropologist said again as she neatly folded the nightgown and put it in her suitcase along with a few other choices of sleepwear. _Just in case._

"Haven't I heard that before…" Desperately said the artist more as a statement than a question, rolling her eyes to the ceiling.

XxXxX

Temperance put her suitcase in the trunk of her car next to the bags of food from her refrigerator. She grabbed her laptop on the way out and locked her front door. She had ideas to start her third book and wanted to write about it as soon as possible.

Twenty minutes later she parked her car on the driveway in front of Booth's house and got out. She stopped her walk and stared at his house. It was a nice looking bungalow of about 30 years. The house was made of stones and the window frames and the door were made of dark tainted wood. A few of Parker's toys were outside on the grass. It was sober, clean, and looked warm.

She took a deep breath as she acknowledged how nervous she was. _It's only Booth, there are no reasons to be nervous. _She got her case out of the trunk and saw him come out of his house to help her. He took her suitcase in one hand and a bag of food in the other.

"I'm okay." She objected as she went to get her purse and her laptop.

"Don't be so feminist Bones, it's actually a nice gesture I'm doing." He gave her his charm smile and walked inside his house. As she walked in, she felt like a stranger invading a private place.

"I'll give you the nickel tour." Booth casually said to her like it wasn't weird at all. He was as nervous as she was, but he could always put his charm act to hide it. He showed her the kitchen, the living room, and as they walked in the hallway, there was the bathroom on her right, and then Parker's room on her left.

"I also loved Winnie the Pooh as a kid." Tempe said, smiling at the memory of her being about 4 years old, sitting on her bed cuddling a huge Winnie the Pooh her father had gotten for her at Disney Land.

"And this is my bedroom." Booth finally said. "Well, _our_ bedroom." As he said those words, he saw Brennan's face become white and the smile leave her face. Booth tried to look as serious as possible but couldn't hold it anymore and started to laugh out loud. "Bones! Relax! I was kidding!" He said, still laughing. "Your bedroom is just behind you." She let out a nervous laugh and turned around, relieved to see Booth had a guest room. He put her suitcase inside, beside the door. The bedroom walls were painted a light beige. There was a dresser for her to put her clothes in and a big bed with dark red covers, almost burgundy.

"For a moment I thought you were serious." _Oh! You won't get away with this so easily Seeley Booth!_

_For a moment I thought I was too. _"I knew the look on your face would be priceless, I just wanted to see it."She turned to face him and gave him a light smile that made his heart skip a beat. "Did you eat? I made pasta." Booth changed the subject.

"Sounds good, I'm hungry." She said, following Booth to the kitchen after deposing her laptop on the bed. The kitchen walls were a pale yellow that gave a sunny look to it. In the middle of the place there was a beautiful wooden kitchen table that looked antique. "It's a very nice table." She said to him as she caressed the wood.

"It belonged to my grandmother." Booth specified. "I sort of inherited it when she died five years ago. I restored it myself; it took me three months." He looked proud of the job he had done with it.

"You did a very good job Booth. It's beautiful."

"Thank you." He went to get two plates from the kitchen cupboards and grabbed the big bowl of pasta to put it on the table. "Do you want something to drink? A beer or a glass of wine maybe?"

Brennan looked at her watch as saw 5:15pm. "I'll take one beer. Angela is coming to get me in 45 minutes." They both sat at the kitchen table.

Booth smiled. "So you told her?" _She must have flipped out!_

"I didn't really have a choice since she was coming to get me at my place tonight." She answered, returning his smile.

"Did she have a heart attack?"

"I think she did, from what I heard on the other end of the phone." They both giggled and took a sip of beer. "Thank you for making dinner, that was nice of you."

"Bah…it's nothing."

"I'll do it tomorrow." She saw he was about to say something when she added: "I insist."

"Okay." He said as he heard her cell phone ring.

"Brennan." She was silent for a moment. "Hi Russ! I'm sorry I didn't call you…Yes, I know, I'm not home. I'm at Booth's for the next couple of days. It's a long story. Do you want to eat lunch with me tomorrow? Yes? Good. I'll see you at noon at the Jeffersonian okay? Great. Bye." She smiled and hung up her phone.

"So you two are getting along?" He asked as he saw the smile on her lips.

"Yes, we are." She answered, thoughtful.

"I'm happy for you Bones." Booth genuinely told her.

"Thank you. I'm glad we finally got to work it out."

The rest of the dinnercontinued with idle chit-chat, and it wasn't long before Angela knocked on the door, a huge grin on her face.

"Should I say _Congratulations_?" She teased as Booth opened the front door.

"You could, but it's at the risk of loosing a few teeth." He answered back with a smirk.

"Ah! Ah…Where's the happy bride?" Angela asked, popping her head in the living room and not seeing her.

"She's in her bedroom. It's the last door or your left." He told her, showing her the direction of the room.

"And here I thought you both shared a room." She said while she walked past him as he closed the front door. "Brenn? You're coming?"

"Yes, Ange! I'm ready. I needed to brush my teeth." She said as she walked out of the bathroom, her toothbrush in her hand.

"Good thinking. I sure don't want you having bad breath with your face two inches away from mine."

"What are you girls up to?" Asked Booth, standing in the doorway of Brennan's bedroom.

"That, my man." Angela started to say. "Is a surprise for you guys that we're preparing for Zach's birthday party."_Wouldn't he like to know…_

"I'm not the birthday boy, you could tell me." He suggested, looking like a kid about to learn of a most forbidden secret.

"Not a chance in hell." Answered Brennan. "You want to see it, you show up at Zach's birthday party."

"Come on Bones!" Booth complained. "It's not like we're buddies! He's just a kid!"

"You, on the other hand, are a grown man, and you're invited. It would mean a lot to him if you go." Brennan said to Booth. "He respects you, even if you treat him like a kid."

"He _is_ a kid!" He exclaimed. "He doesn't even have facial hair!" Angela chucked behind him and Tempe shot her a fuming look.

"Look Booth, you do as you please." Said Angela. "You go or stay home, but we will all be there having the time of our lives. And if I were you, I'd go." She added with a wink as both girls got out of the bedroom.

"I want you here before midnight!" He said to Tempe, grinning, and showing her his watch with his finger.

"He wants _you_ before midnight." The artist murmured to her friend, which made her smile, and she gave her a light slap on her arm.

Tempe turned her head towards Booth and gave him a kiss in the air before smiling and closed the door behind her.

"What was that for?" Angela asked her friend, knowing it's not like her to do that.

"Revenge." She simply answered.

XxXxX

After the two hours practice with Angela, they decided to go for a beer at Wong Foo's. They got in and sat at the bar.

"Hi Sid!" Brennan said to the barman.

"Hi girls! How are you today?"

"Good." Answered Angela before turning to Tempe. "You know, you should call your husband to see if he wants to join us." She suggested, smiling.

Sid, who had been serving drinks to other customers, lifted his head up looking surprised, and stared at Brennan. "I didn't know you were married."

"She got married today." Replied Angela, putting her arms around her friend. "She's spending her honeymoon with _me_. Isn't she an angel?" Sid didn't look too sure of that.

"It's a long story Sid." Explained the forensic-anthropologist to the barman. She took her cell phone out of her pocket and called Booth. "Hey, it's me. We're at Wong Foo's for a drink. You want to come? Good, see you in a few." And she hung up.

There is no need to explain the surprise on Sid's face when he saw Booth push the front door of the pub 20 minutes later and come sit besides Temperance.

"I'll take a beer Sid." He said, looking at his friend's questioning look. "What?" He asked as both girls were trying to keep a straight face.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me." Sid said to him. "What's worse is that you didn't even invite me."

"Invite you where?" Booth didn't think they had told Sid about _the wedding_, so he genuinely had no idea what he was talking about.

"To your wedding!" He shouted in the bar as Booth took a sip of beer and spilled it everywhere. "I'm hurt man!"

"Relax Sid!" He said back, now laughing. He bent forward and told him to get closer. "We're not _really_ married. It's make belief, for a case."

"Oh…"

"It's a long story."

Sid walked toward Angela to give a beer to a client and murmured to her: "Here I thought they had finally gotten together." He rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"You and me my friend, we think alike."

"So?" Asked Sid. "Where are the rings?" For a second time that evening, Booth spilled his beer everywhere. "Man, you gotta learn how to drink." Sid told his friend, wiping up spilt beer, a smirk on his face. Booth turned to Brennan with a stunned face.

"I didn't think about that." _Damn, I must look like the most unromantic man in the world._

"Don't worry, we'll take care of it later." She uncomfortably shifted her position on the bar stool. _Do we have to have this conversation here!_

"Later when?" Annoyingly asked Angela, taking a sip of beer. "Later soon." She added and then saw the faces both Brennan and Booth were giving her. "What! Married couples _do_ wear wedding rings!"

Booth opened his mouth to say something, but he found himself saying something completely different from what he was going to say: "She's got a point."

"Of course I do." _What would they do without me?_

Tempe turned her face from Angela to her partner. "I have a pearl ring that belonged to my mother I could wear."

"Pearl?" Snorted Angela. "You didn't tell me it was a pearl ring! Pearls are for tears. Do you want your marriage to be doomed?" _Not on my watch!_

Booth, Brennan and Sid looked at Angela with a stunned face. Finally, it was Brennan who spoke first. "Ange?" She asked, as she passed a hand right in front of her face. "It's not _real_, remember?"

"Oh crap…I'm dreaming again." She said, before she got a slap behind the head from Brennan. "_Hey!_ What was that for?"

"To get you out of your dream." She seriously said to the brunette as Booth chuckled.

After a couple of songs, a few laughs and another beer, Angela finally stood up. She kissed Brennan good night and said goodbye to the guys. "We all didn't get a lot of sleep last night and I'm tired. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Good night Angela." They all said back.

"You know Brenn, it's pretty great this arrangement of yours. I don't have to drive you back home." She grinned.

"It won't last forever Ange."

"Yeah, yeah. Sleep tight."

"Don't let the big bugs bite." Brennan finished, smiling.

"I think she means 'bed bugs' Angela." Booth told the artist as he rolled his eyes to the ceiling.

"It depends on the bug." Angela added with a wink, which made Sid laugh.

Booth and Brennan both negatively shook their heads.

"Dear Angela…" Angela started to say, imitating her friend. "She's some piece of work, but I won't exchange her for all the gold in the world."

"I've never been a gold digger." Brennan told her friend before she disappeared behind the front door of the Pub.

"We're gonna go too Sid." Said Booth to his friend as he stood up. "And don't worry man: if I ever get married, you'll be invited."

"I better be." He said, refusing the money they were giving him. "It's on the house, after all, it's your honeymoon." They both grimaced at Sid. "Good night you guys. Be safe." They both stared at him with questioning looks. "No really!" Sid clarified, laughing. "There was no pun intended. I meant it for the road."

"Just checking."

XxXxX

When they arrived at Booth's place, it was almost midnight and Temperance asked if it would be a problem if she took a shower.

"Why would it be a problem?" Surprisingly asked Booth.

"I don't know, because it's almost midnight?"

"Parker isn't here, and I won't be sleeping in the next 15 minutes. You do as you please." He showed her where the clean towels were and where to put them afterwards. "I would mind if you _didn't_ take showers while living here Bones, not the other way around." He added with a smirk.

"You don't have to worry about that then, I do have a good hygiene."

"Always good to know." He said as he closed the bathroom door on his way out. _This is so her to tell me that._

Tempe had brought her own soap and shampoo, but she felt as if she was intruding as she stepped in the shower. She was once more amazed at how clean everything was. When she had first come into his house, she had seen how clean everything looked, and it had surprised her because usually, a man's place was clean to a certain minimum. Booth's place was spotless clean, and she was sure it was because of the years he had spent in the army since those guys were very strict to keep everything bright and shinny.

A few minutes later she got out of the bathroom wrapped in a towel and saw Booth in the living room making sure all the doors and windows were locked. _He sure looks good in those Calvin Klein boxers._

"I'm not obsessive-compulsive Bones." He said to her as she stepped in her bedroom to change_. Like I needed to see a wet dripping Bones wrapped in a towel before going to sleep. This is so not going to be easy._

"I didn't think you had OCD." She told him, tightly clinging on her towel as she stood in the doorway. _I thought you looked hot!…Oh! my God!… I did not just think that! Stop it!_

"We can never be too careful in my line of work. A lot of people want me dead." _Would you just stop standing in front of me half naked and dripping wet!_

"That's reassuring." She sarcastically said as she closed the door behind her. She got out about two minutes later wearing boxer sleep short and a white tank top. She put the towels in the laundry basket and went back to her room.

"Good night Booth." She said as she saw him turn off the light since his bedroom door wasn't totally closed.

"G'night Bones." He said back, barely looking at her.

She slid under the covers, stared at the dim light of the hallway and half an hour later both of them were sound sleep. It hadn't been three hours of sleep when she was awaken by the sound of Booth's home phone ringing. It had not rang twice when she heard her cell phone ring.

"Brennan." She said in a sleepy voice before she heard Dr. Goodman's voice. "Okay. We'll be there." She hung up and reluctantly got out of bed. _Another sleepless night._

As she opened the door of her bedroom, she saw Booth yawning as he stood in the doorway of his bedroom, his hair all messed up. He passed a hand in his face and stared at her for a split second, then he smiled.

"Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

She pouted. "If only."

**(TBC)**


	9. Fuhgedaboudit

**A/N** Thanks to everyone who reads, and who also reviews. Your reviews give me inspiration to write more! And faster! So push that button at the end of this page! It's very important! After all, it takes only 30 seconds to write something down. Thank you.

I think this story will have at least 15 chapters…Just so you know, it's not over until it's over. Hehe.

I don't own anything related to _Bones_ and I'm not making any money out of this.

**WARNINGS:** _This chapter takes place between 2h56am and 3h45am. It's full of fluffy bunnies for the B&B shipper readers! _

**Rated:**_ T… for the moment._

XxXxX

**Chapter nine: Fuhgedaboudit**

BOOTH'S HOUSE 

_2h56am, after Dr. Goodman and Cullen's phone call._

"Do you mind if I go first?" Booth asked Brennan as she stood in front of him in her white boxer short pants and her tank top, her hair all messed up as the curls went in all direction. He stared at her and then he smiled. _Damn, she looks hot! _ "I didn't know you had curly hair." He casually said, knowing very well that he had looked at her longer than he should have. _Control yourself Seeley!_ _Be smooth!_

"Yeah…this is the result of when I go to bed with my hair still wet." She said to him, making a huge effort to look him in the eyes since he was only wearing a pair of black boxers. _Why do I always have to look where I'm not supposed to! Look up! His eyes! His eyes! _"You can go first, I don't mind. I'll go make some coffee." She turned around to walk down the corridor, and didn't dare look back to see if he was checking her out. _He's got to be looking…It's in the Y chromosome._

"Thanks Bones, I won't be long. I just have to shave." He said to her, watching her walk as the thin fabric of her boxer and tank top was clinging to her body like a second skin. _Damn! Why does she have to look that good?_ "I took my shower last night." _While you were doing God knows what with Angela. _

"No problem." She walked in the kitchen and switched the light on. It took her eyes a few seconds to adjust to the brightness but she dimmed it down a few notches. She opened the cupboard door to look if he had any travel mugs. "You bad boy." She said to herself as she saw two of them with the Jeffersonian Institute logo drawn on it. She took the bag of Columbian Fair Trade Certified coffee she had brought from home and put it in the coffee machine, as Booth suddenly appeared looking fresh and smelling of after shave. _Why does he have to smell so good! _She had a sudden urge to turn around and bring her lips to his. _Stop it! What's wrong with you!_

"Now you look like the Agent Booth I know." She told him, smiling. "Minus the suit, of course." _Come on!_ _Go get some pants on! Not that I mind the boxers of course! _

"What? You didn't like my scruffy bad boy look?" He asked, his charm smile playing on his lips.

"On a Sunday morning, while lying in bed, yes, but not to go to work." It didn't take long for her to start blushing as the revelation of the statement she made dawned on her, and she didn't know where to look anymore. _Shit!_ He totally saw her embarrassment and decided to push the envelope a little further.

"You wouldn't like my beard on Sunday mornings Bones, because it can get really rough and scratchy and you'd complain that I'd hurt your delicate skin." He said satisfied of himself when he saw that she didn't know where to look and stayed silent. He was grinning when she finally faced him, fire shooting from her eyes, her index finger pocking him in his chest as she was staring at his well-sculpted torso and worked very hard to keep her mind focus on what she wanted to say. _Damn, you look good!_

"First of all Seeley Booth, I don't complain about anything!" She fired back at him, angrier with herself for having suggested she was speaking of them than she was with him. "Secondly, I wasn't speaking of YOU and ME. I was speaking in GENERAL about people lying in bed to do the '_Grasse Matinée'_ on a Sunday morning, which means staying in bed longer than usual as the French call it, because that's what people do. Or so I've heard. And-" She started to add as she saw him open his mouth to speak. "I'm not finished! And, for your information, I don't think a scruffy look looks professional, for any kind of work!" She found it very hard to keep an angry face as he was grinning from ear to ear.

"You know what? You're very beautiful when you're angry." He told her, still smiling. _You sly dog! She'll never know what hit her!_

"Wipe that stupid grin off your face!" She ordered as he started to laugh. "Oh! You won't get away with this Seeley Booth!" She added, the beginning of a smile forming on the right corner of her lips. _Does he really find me beautiful, or did he say it just to mock me?_

"Of course I am." He said, still laughing. She could see he had a mischievous look on his face that she couldn't quite place. "Because of _this_." He brought his left hand out from behind his back and opened a small box, holding it directly in front of her at chest level. "Marry me?" He asked, still grinning.

Brennan stopped smiling and all she could do was stare at the ring. The first thought that came to mind was how very beautiful it was, and the second thought was...how very expensive it looked! She looked at him surprisingly and then her eyes went back at the ring. "What is THAT?" She asked, a dumbfound look on her face. _When the hell did he have the time to get this? I don't understand!_

"I'm pretty sure it's a diamond ring Bones." He said as he looked at it, and then back at her. "Yep! Diamond ring." _She should see her face right now!_

"I know it's a diamond ring Booth! I'm not blind!" She exclaimed as she took it from him and looked at it closer. The gold ring was simple and delicate and it was ornamented with a 5mmX 5mm square diamond. _He's loosing it, or insane… or sick! He has to be sick! I just know it! _ She thought as she delicately put the back of her hand on his forehead. "No, you're not feverish." She said, as his grin grew wider. There was a 14K marking on the inside of the ring along with a delicate engraving of RG/SB. _This ring was meant for someone else…RG…Rebecca? _"I can't take this." She said to him, trying to give him the ring back, which he declined.

"Take it." He simply said. "We need a ring, and it's a really nice diamond ring."

"I can't accept this Booth. I don't want to be all girly on you, but I would feel weird wearing it." She told him as she extended her arm once more to give him back the ring. "This ring was meant for someone else. I can't take it." She saw him look at her with a questioning look, his eyebrows drawn together, and then he seemed to understand what she was probably thinking as his expression suddenly changed.

_RG/SB…I should have known she'd see it. _"You think it was meant for Rebecca?" He asked, the beginning of another smile spreading on his lips.

"Well, yes." She simply said, looking embarrassed. _I certainly don't think it's funny! Why is he smiling?_

He nodded his head affirmatively, understanding her embarrassment and he took a step closer to her. _Oh God! What is he doing? _Tempe took a step back and found out that she was touching the counter of the kitchen. _What the HELL is HE doing? _He leaned over her, a crooked smile on his lips as he stared at her and saw both surprise and confusion on her face. He then stretched his right arm around her body to get to the lamp that was on the kitchen counter, and switched the light on. _Oh!…You are SO going to hell Seeley Booth! _She said to herself as he took a step back and started to explain what the initials RG/SB meant.

"This ring belonged to my grandmother, Rosa Garner." Booth said to her, not leaving her face while he explained. _Did she just think I was going to kiss her? Well, well, well! Isn't that interesting!_

"Oh…" She said, her face blushing. _Okay, breathe! So, it wasn't meant for Rebecca…_

"My grandfather, Samuel Booth, gave it to Rosa on May 1944 before being shipped off to Normandy."

"Oh God…" She said as she stared at the ring, recollecting the events that occurred on June 6th, 1944 on the Coast of France. _Poor guy._

"I thought you didn't believe in God." He said, surprised.

"It's a figure of speech Booth." She stated.

"Right. Anyway, my grandpa didn't die in the Normandy Invasion." Booth explained to Brennan, knowing it was probably what she was thinking. "He got lucky." He smiled. "They got married in '45 when the war was over. They were married for 52 years when he died of cancer in '97, and grandma wore her ring until one week before she died in 2001, when she gave it to me at the hospital, telling me that one of these days, I had to give it to_ a 'Special Lady'_." Tempe silently stared at him, seeing his eyes were recollecting that specific day. "Anyway!" He cheered as he got out of his reverie and was back to his playful old self. "This day has arrived, and it looks like you're my Special One!" Brennan looked even more desperate than before.

"It's even worse than I thought!" She told Booth. _How can he look so calm?_ "I can't take this! This ring obviously meant a lot to your grandmother, and it means a lot to you too." She gave him back the ring. "It's not fair to Rosa that I wear this."

"Speaking of fairness..." He said, more to himself than to Brennan. _Is it really fair to me that you're standing not one foot away, half naked, wearing a tank top that looks like it's about to explode from the tension your breasts put on the tiny straps?_

"What?" She asked, her head a bit tilted on the right, staring at him. _He's acting really weird._

"Look Temperance." He said to her as he took both her shoulders in his hands and looked at her in the eyes, being serious for the first time since he had woken up. "I've given it a lot of thought, and I want you to wear it." _Because the truth is, I'm starting to like the idea of you being my 'Special Lady'._

"But-" _It belonged to your grandmother!_ _What should I do? This is insane!_

"Thank you for refusing to take it." She looked confused as he said this. _My god! Have you seen those eyes? Did she always have that much depth in them?_ "This proves to me that you are thinking about my feelings, and really, it's nice of you, but I want you to wear it. Take it." He said to her as he opened her left hand and put it on the palm of her hand.

Brennan stared at him for a few seconds and then she lowered her eyes to look at the diamond ring. _Should I? _She took the ring with her right hand and put in on her ring finger.

"It fits." She murmured, staring at it.

"That's what I thought." Booth said in a low voice as he was also staring at her hand. She smiled and then looked up into his eyes, not knowing what to say. The intensity between them was almost unbearable to both of them as they looked in each other's eyes for a lingering moment. Finally, when Brennan wasn't so sure if she was on the verge of laughing or crying since the situation was so awkward, Booth spoke. "Just don't lose it 'cause I'll kill you."

This eased up the tension as Brennan let out a nervous laugh. He smiled back at her, and suddenly the moment over took him and he slowly took her face between his hands. His fingers lingered on the soft spot behind her ears as he leaned closer and kissed her forehead, his lips resting longer than they should on her skin._ Oh God_…She felt her heart rate beat faster and she was sure he could hear it. _I need a drink! I need water! It's too hot in here! He is too hot! He smells too good! Stop it Temperance! _His hands were warm and soft as she had always thought they would be, and she had to fight the urge of leaning against him as she tentatively put her hands on his chest. She felt her throat go dry and tighten as he started to caress the soft spot behind her ears, sending electric currents all over her body that made her chest go warm and her lips tingle. _Oh God, what is he doing to me? _

Booth wasn't even sure of what he was doing as he took her face between his hands. All he knew was that a feeling of sudden envy and complete urge to touch her had overwhelmed him and he had found his fingers caressing the soft spot behind her ears before he could even stop himself, but from the look in her eyes, he knew he wasn't in trouble and it destabilized him. _She's so beautiful._ He caressed her cheek with his thumb and traced an imaginary line from her ear to her lips. _Full and soft._ He thought as he touched the delicate skin, unconsciously licking his own lips from the anticipation of tasting hers. He returned his gaze to her eyes and whatever he saw in them, he wasn't able to put a name on it. _Lust? Confusion? Desire? Fear?_

"Booth…?" She said barely above a whisper, her mind racing wildly and her heart pounding hard. _What are you doing? What are we doing?_

"Shhhhh." He said as an answer, a vague appearance of a smile on the corner of his mouth as he tightened his grip on her with his right hand. His left hand slowly left her neck and slide down her collar bone to stop on the spaghetti straps of her tank top. He slowly caressed the tiny piece of fabric with one finger and then, with a now slightly shaking hand, he slid his finger under the strap and pushed it down her shoulder as he brushed his lips on her skin, taking the time to inhale her intoxicating scent before he tenderly kissed the soft skin behind her ear. He heard her sharp intake of breath urging him onward as he slightly opened his mouth to let the tip of his tongue touch her skin, he kissed the base of her neck while his hand slowly went down from her shoulder to her elbow, and then to her hand. He left her neck to look at her face and found himself undressing her with his eyes. "You have no idea what you're doing to me right now. " He said to her in a breathy whisper as she stood there, numb, wanting to move but not being able to. _What I'M doing to YOU? I'm not doing anything! It's what YOU are doing to ME! Oh, PLEASE don't stop!_

His eyes left her face to follow the movement of his hand on her arm and he was completely absorbed by the reaction of her skin from his touch, as goose bumps invaded the softness of her skin. His left hand was going back up her arm when he stopped his movement and rested it on her shoulder after replacing the strap of her tank top where it belonged. He felt her shaking under his hands as she was trying very hard to calm down, taking deep breaths because her breathing had became very erratic.

Being the alpha man that he is, Booth's eyes went from her shoulder to her chest as each deep breath she was taking in seemed to make her breasts look rounder and fuller under the tank top she was wearing. _This top is too small for her, but not that I'm complaining._ He stared at the two silhouettes her erected nipples had created under her tank top and prayed to God for control. He took a deep breath and found himself sliding his right hand in her hair as he almost collapsed into her, looking at her right in the eyes, lips almost touching, and his testicles aching from his desire for her as he felt his penis erect against her body.

"You are SO not making this easy for me." He said to her, staring at her, caressing her neck with his right hand, while his left hand was resting on the small of her back, on the naked spot just between her boxers and her tank top, amazed at how full of desire his own voice had sounded when he had spoken.

"Like you're making this easy for me..." Her reply came out husky and just above a whisper, searching for some kind of answer in the depth of his dark brown eyes.

"You really should put something on...or I can assure you I WILL ravage your ENTIRE body." He said out of breath as he kissed her shoulder and went up to her neck, just before he captured her earlobe in his mouth, and heard her moan from pleasure.

"Then ravage me." She murmured out of breath, as she slowly caressed his bare chest, wrapping her arms over his shoulders and entwining her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck as he pressed her body full against his and brought her lips to his. _I can't believe how much I want her! _He found her lips soft and inviting as he captured her lower lip between his and lightly sucked on it. Her mouth opened slightly and the tip of her tongue brushed across his lips as she pressed her body harder against him, sliding her tongue in his mouth, tasting him, deepening the kiss, inviting him, and giving him total access. _So help me God! _ He thought, now fully aroused, as he slid his hand under her tank top, caressing the soft skin of her back, sending shivers throughout her entire body and feeling her tremble slightly as his hands went up her side and felt every bone of her rib cage, just before he lightly brushed the roundness of her breasts with his thumbs. _Oh! God!_

The kiss deepened at the rhythm of their breathing and he found out that she had no problem expressing herself as she let out a few moans every time he caressed a certain spot on her skin, just below the last rib on her right side as his hands roamed her bare flesh. _Erogenous zone. _He told himself as his right hand came to rest again on the small of her back, drawing tight circles while his left one continued it's way under her tank top. Going slowly up from her spine to her neck, Booth held her tightly against him like what he wanted was fusion of both their bodies. _I want more…I so want more…I want her._

For some reason this was a huge turn on for Brennan who felt her desire pulse between her legs and knew she wanted more as she felt the wetness pooling at her core. Booth pulled back from the kiss and he looked into her eyes as they were both gasping for air. Staring at her, he was amazed at the woman who was standing before him, all fire and desire. "I knew you were in there somewhere." He told her in a husky voice as he passionately captured her lips once more. Just then, Brennan cell phone rang. The sound of the phone ringing was a harsh way to bring them back to reality. They broke off the kiss, leaning on one another's foreheads trying to catch their breath and staring at each other. They looked as if someone had just slapped them. _Holy SHIT!_

"Go." Booth said out of breath as she looked at him, unsure of what to do. "Go answer it."

She ran in her bedroom to get her cell phone, thinking it must be Goodman calling back. "Brennan!"

"Hi! Sweetie!" It was Angela.

"Hey." She said back, trying very hard to steady her breathing, shaking from head to toe. _Oh! My god! Oh! My god! Oh! My god! His hands…his lips…his touch! Oh! My God!_

"Are you alright?" Her friend asked. "You sound out of breath. Don't tell me you were jogging at 3:30 in the morning?" _I wasn't born yesterday._

"I ran to answer the phone Angela, that's all. I thought it was Goodman calling back." She lied to her friend. "What's wrong?" She asked, her heart still beating fast from his touch. _What just possessed us? I'm not sure I know but I so want his hands on me again!_

"I got a flat tire on my way back from Wong Foo's last night, not two blocks away from home. I was able to get back home, but I won't drive 5 miles that way in the middle of the night. Can you guys come and pick me up? Please?" _And don't you think I won't find out why you sound out of breath!_

"Sure. We'll be there in half an hour. Is that okay?" _Calm down! Breathe in! Breathe out! _She told herself, seeing her hands were still shaking.

"That's fine. Thanks Brenn." She hung up and Tempe just stood there, staring at her cell phone, when she heard Booth's voice from the doorway of her bedroom.

"What happened?" He simply asked, looking as if he had no clue what had happen. _Shut up!_

"She got a flat tire." _And she probably doesn't know how to change it._

"I meant 'between us'?" He corrected. _Shut up Seeley! Shut the fuck up! _

"We kissed." _Were you not conscious?_

"I know we kissed. Where did THAT come from?" _Only my deepest desire…_

"I don't know." _What are you saying?_

"Me neither." _Liar._

"Do you mean that you don't know WHY it happened?" She asked, wanting to clear things up. _I know I'm attracted to you, and what about everything you said to me?_

"I don't." He answered as he saw the hurt on her face_. I'm such a liar! I'm NOT supposed to be attracted to you! It's pure madness! You're my work partner! We can't do this! _

"I see." _Ouch! _She didn't want to argue with him and walked to her closet to get her clothes, and then into the bathroom. _You want to act like nothing happened? Fine!_ She took off her pajamas and put on a really nice matching bra and panty set she had bought the other day while shopping with Angela. _I should be the one denying everything! Why is he doing this? It's so not like him! _She took a towel out of the cupboard and washed her face. _What the HELL just happened?_ She stared at her reflection in the mirror and remembered the feel of his hands on her and was instantly turned on._ Stop it!_ She took out her bottle of water and sprayed some in her hair. _My hair looks like crap!_ She passed her hands in her hair, twirled them all together and as she was about to close the large clip in her hair, the bathroom door opened and a fully clothed Booth walked in. _Oh…no…_

"_JESUS CHRIST!"_ He cried out loud as he saw her. "I thought…" He started to say, eyes wide open and staring at her."I was sure…" He added pointing toward her bedroom with his left hand. _Oh My God! Look at her! _ "The door…it wasn't fully closed!" He finally said as an excuse, not moving an inch and staring at her without blinking. _Holy SHIT! She looks amazing!_

Tempe just stood there, not moving, in her navy blue lace Lejaby underwear. She could feel her heart beat pulsing hard against her chest and throat for the second time that night and all that she could do was stare at him. The intensity of his eyes was making her uncomfortable as she knew he was silently taking off what little she had on. She wished he would just stop standing there and walk out of the bathroom. _Like HELL you don't want me! _

Her feet felt like they were cemented in the floor and she couldn't move. She finally clicked the hair slide and put her arms down, fully aware her cheeks were pink as she felt the heat come out of her body. She walked towards Booth and put a hand on his chest. "For a man who claims NOT to know what happened just a few minutes ago, you sure look like you DO!" She angrily said to him, a fake smile on her lips.

"Bbbb…" He started to say, as she pushed him out of the bathroom and closed the door in his face. "I'm sorry." He quietly said to her. _Am I really? She looks fabulous! _He stupidly stared at the closed door, recalling the last few seconds that had just happened of seeing her in her 'almost' full glory. _Wow! _He tried to calm himself but the only thing he wanted was to kick that bathroom door open. _Damn…what was I thinking! _He was fully aroused and tried to calm himself, again. _Get a grip Seeley!_

"Forget about it." She said from the other side of the door, trying to calm herself as she put on a pair of pants and a blouse. _I knew this would happen one way or another! Why didn't I close the door? What's wrong with me!_

"I'm not so sure about forgetting…" She heard him murmuring behind the closed door, and even if she was still pissed off at him, she blushed even more.

"I heard that!" She said as she abruptly opened the door and saw him standing right where she had left him not two minutes ago. "And for the record: YOU are the only one NOT knowing WHY it happened!" She snapped back as she walked in the kitchen to get the mugs of coffee. After a few seconds of silence, she added more softly: "We have to go get Angela." She was hurt and he knew it.

"Bones." He said, as he walked closer to her. _Danger Zone. Don't get too close. _"It's not what you think…" He said, looking really embarrassed, but wanting to explain knowing she was hurt because of what he had said earlier. _Damn! I can be such a jackass sometimes!_

"Are you sure you really WANT to know what I think?" She asked, fuming, and not letting him the chance to answer her. "Because I think that you must be so PROUD of yourself right now!" She said back, making direct eye contact with him and not allowing herself to even blink. "CONGRATULATIONS to you man!" She said as she punched him in the arm as a man would do to a buddy. "What was it, huh? You wanted to prove to yourself that you were able to make that cold hearted woman that you think I am MELT under your touch?" _You chauvinist pig!_

"You are so wrong about this…" He said, genuinely hurt she'd think something like that about him_. She's snapping because she's hurt. That's what women do. Don't take it personally._

"Whatever you have to tell yourself to be able to sleep at night." She said sarcastically as she poured coffee in the two mugs. He stopped her walk grabbing her arm as she was going to get some milk in the refrigerator. "Let go of me." She warned, tears on the verge of falling down her cheeks. _Please, let me go._

"Listen to me." He said in a soft yet demanding tone as he saw her sigh and then turn to face him. "I didn't plan this okay? It just happened, and believe me, I wanted it as much as you did." She just kept looking at him without speaking, her eyes moist from the tears she kept fighting from falling down. He took it as a good sign that she wasn't going to kick his ass, and he let go of her arm. "This is crazy Bones! We are playing with fire here! We work together! We just can't act on impulses! What if it doesn't work out? Then what? They have to assign someone else to the Jeffersonian?" He saw her take a deep breath. "Look, I'm trying very hard here to do the right thing, because I usually don't think about consequences when I'm attracted to a woman, but we work together, and we're good friends and if we fuck up that relationship then..."

"Do you honestly think that you're the only one who thought about that?" Tempe asked as she took a deep breath. She passed a hand across her forehead, trying to wipe off an imaginary headache. "This is insane."

"I know." _It's crazy. But it just felt so right!_

"Just talk to me Booth. I'm not some gullible bimbo you can say anything to and I'll believe it. And please don't act as if what happened didn't mean anything, because it did. We're not teenagers."

"I know, I'm deeply sorry. I just want to be really, really sure before jumping into anything." He truthfully said as he put his arms around her and felt her relax against him. _This feels so right. _He thought as he kissed her forehead. "Just don't walk around the house half naked until we figure things out, alright?" He said, a grin playing on his face. "I'm not THAT strong."

"That goes both ways you know." She said softly as she wrapped her arms around him tightly and let this new feeling of closeness wash over her and take hold. _Don't let go of me…_

"Deal?" He asked, releasing her embraceafter enjoying the moment and looking her in the eyes. _You're a hell of a woman Temperance Brennan!_

"Deal."She said as she blushed slightly at the agreement.

"Just for the record Bones, " He started to say to her, a huge smile gracing his face, his eyebrows raised high for affect, he lowered his voice to a gruff tone as he continued, "Let me say you looked...AMAZING! I mean…really…WOW!" _Lets just say my dreams won't be dull from now on with that image burned in my memory! WOW!_

**(TBC)**


	10. Human Wreck

**A/N** Thanks to everyone who read and mostly reviewed last chapter! OMG! I never thought I'd get over 30 posts! Amazing! You guys rock! Thank you so much!

I have to apologize to you for not posting before, but I had an AWFUL week at work, I'm sure you know what I'm talking about: I had one of those days where you just want to QUIT, say Adios! and never look back. Sometimes, you just get sick of blood baths, and when I say 'blood baths' I really MEAN blood baths…I have the proof all over my shoes. And then the shooting at Dawson College happened in downtown Montreal (East of Canada), and it was insane around here. I really didn't feel like writing, and I'm sure you can understand.

Thank you Gayle for the beta'ing.

This chapter is an _In Between_…to get to the good stuff. Hope you enjoy! 

XxXxX

_**Not In This Life**_

**Chapter ten: Human Wreck**

It was almost 4:00am when Booth, Brennan and Angela arrived at the Jeffersonian Institute, ready to start to work since Dr. Goodman had called the Squints almost an hour ago to tell them that another body had been discovered in a dumpster behind The George Washington High School building. Booth had gotten the exact same phone call from Cullen.

Brennan ran into the lab to get her tools, then she and Booth drove together to the site. When they got to the high school, almost twenty people were there, Hodgins and Zach were already searching for clues on and around the body.

"Nobody touches the body!" Brennan yelled as she quickened her pace to get to the remains. "You'll destroy evidence!" She said, annoyed.

"We COLLECT evidence Dr. Brennan, we don't DESTROY them." Zach replied to the forensic-anthropologist.

"I wasn't thinking about you guys, I know I can trust you. When you work, you actually USE your intelligence, which is more than I can say for some people around here." She answered, putting on a pair of latex gloves and bending over the remains. "I was speaking of the FBI boys over there." She pointed out the men who were standing not five feet away.

"I heard that!" Booth yelled at her.

"I'm just stating the facts Booth, and you are not part of that fact as I have already told you that I think you're smart." Brennan said to him before returning her focus on the skeleton. "Female, Caucasian, around 30 years old." She said, as she turned the skull in her hands to see the right side of it. "She has a deep wound at the right temple that resembles the other victims. It also look about 2cm deep."

"The _Cruise Ship Serial Killer_'s 4th victim." Stated Hodgins.

"We'll be sure when we have a complete examination of the remains." Brennan said to the guys. "ALRIGHT!" She yelled to the boys. "Be careful not to touch anything! Bag the remains, and send them to the Jeffersonian!" She stood up and walked towards a grimacing Booth, who had put his tie over his nose to breathe.

"I don't know how you can stand the smell Bones." He told her, wishing he had a jar of the white mint paste they used in morgues to put under his nose.

"You get used to it." She answered, walking back to his SUV, pulling off her latex gloves and scratching her hands. _That itch __is getting worse every week!_

"Looks like you had to get used to a lot of things." Replied Booth, opening the door on the driver's side to get in behind the wheel. _She looks mad, why is she mad?_

"Welcome to my life." She said, not really smiling. _It's full of 'getting used to'…_

"What's with your hands?" He asked, seeing they were red from what looked like a rash.

"Latex allergy." She told him as she looked at her hands. "Once you start to get an allergic reaction to latex, you're doomed. It can develop from too much latex exposure, and then it only gets worse." She turned to face him and saw that he was grinning. "My WORKING GLOVES are made of latex Booth!" She told him, negatively shaking her head. _Men...always thinking about sex._

Twenty minutes later they arrived at the lab. Brennan clicked her ID card and walked up the stairs, followed by Booth not far behind. She put on her lab coat and a pair of latex gloves.

"Shouldn't you stop using those?" Booth asked, pointing at her hands.

"I should, but the order I made of latex-free gloves won't come in until later this week.The original order was wrong and I had to reorder the latex-free ones." She said, walking toward the remains that was being laid on the table. "I'm lucky you just got your CPR certification!" She told him with a false smile on her face. "Zach has bee allergies, so he always carries his epinephrine syringe on him. You know, in case I get anaphylactic shock..."

"Not funny Bones." He told her seriously.

"It's nice to know you care if I LIVE or DIE." She said to him, avoiding eye contact.

"Hey!"He said with anger seeping into tone as he walked closer to her. He then spoke in a low forceful voice that only she could hear, even though they were the only ones in that part of the lab, he didn't want everyone to hear their discussion. "Of course I care! What's wrong with you? We left home and everything was fine! Now you're pissed at me?"

"I'm sorry, you're right." She told him as she let out a deep breath. "I think I'm more angry at myself than I am at you." This seemed to take him by surprise.

"Why?" He asked.

"Because." Her answer sounded like one of a teenager lacking argumentation.

"Because? That's not an answer!"

"You don't get to HAVE a legitimate answer Booth." She said as she faced him and held his stare. "I definitely have issues with what happened, and you obviously don't." His face suddenly changed. "So, I am the one who has to work with them, on them, over them, whatever I have to do to get past them." _It's all Angela's fault! Why did I ever listen to her?_

"Who the HELL do you think you are to tell me what I should or shouldn't feel?" He snapped, now definitely angry and trying to keep his voice down.

"I…just…assumed." She answered, babbling. _Why do I feel so insecure all of a sudden? I've NEVER felt insecure in my relationships!_

"Don't assume anything Bones, because you don't know shit." Booth had took a few steps closer to her as he said those words, so his face wasn't three inches away from hers. He saw her lips start to curl up to a smile. "What?" He incredulously asked.

"It's just that…Why are we fighting Booth?" As she asked the question, he took a step back from her. "I don't like being angry at you. Why am I so angry at you?" _I usually am not like this with men. It's got to be HIM. You're making me a human wreck Seeley Booth! _

"I think it's because you…we…are confused about our feelings, and it's easier to let them out in anger than to start analyzing them." He told her as he passed a hand through his dark hair.

"I don't want to fight with you." She said after she let out a sigh.

"Me neither."

"I also hate psychology." _I really hate psychology._

"I know." He said, smiling.

"Lets just get this case over with." She suggested. "After that, we'll have plenty of time to…figure things out."

"Deal." _Another one._ "Now, lets put this bastard where he belongs!" He said as he rubbed his hands together, getting in the mood to catch the killer.

"In a coffin?" Brennan asked, looking as innocent as a child.

"No Bones…" Booth said to her in a low and serious tone of voice. "In JAIL." _Let a jury decide if he should get death penalty or not._

"Huh…right."

XxXxX

Brennan, Zach and Hodgins worked all night on Jane Doe IV and found that all the evidence led them to the _Cruise Ship Serial Killer_ once more. "She has the same injuries as the three other victims." Brennan said to her assistant. "Same _M.O."_

Booth hung back, actually enjoying watching her work as her eyes intensely focused on each bone, analyzing them, as her fingers delicately touched them, and then replacing each of them where they belonged on the skeleton. "The same temporal wound, 5mm wide and 2cm deep, situated on the right side of her skull. The parietal and mandibula bones are also fractured, which indicates that the head was immobilized with a metal device."

"We didn't find a ring Dr. Brennan." The young assistant said to his mentor. "But she WAS wearing white."

"We still have enough to connect her to the _Cruise Ship Serial Killer_." She walked around the table and took a small piece of bone that was peanut-like shaped. "Zach? Take this and find out what it is." _I know what it is; I just want the proof of what I think it is._

"Sure Dr. Brennan." Zach said as he took the tiny piece and put it on a metal plate. "I'll go run tests on it right away." He then turned around and walked away from them.

"Spill it Bones." Booth said to his partner as he walked closer to her, knowing perfectly well that she didn't need tests to know what it was.

"I just want to be sure before I say anything." She said, her eyes still focused on the remains. She took a step away from him.

"Tell me." He demanded as he took another step closer.

"It's just that you usually get all sensitive about that sort of thing, I just want to be sure." Her eyes never left the remains as she took another step back from Booth.

"I don't get sensit-" He started to say to defend himself as Angela walked towards them, a smile on her lips since she had just seen the little game of cat and mouse they had been unconsciously playing.

Brennan looked up at Booth when she saw Angela and gave him a crooked smile.

"Can I be of any help?" Angela asked, as she was desperate to find something to work on. "Please, tell me I didn't get up at 3:00 am just to be a witness to your weird behaviors." She said as she gestured the two of them. Booth and Brennan looked at each other, surprised.

"What are you talking about?" Booth asked, not seeing that Brennan had started to blush slightly and was avoiding her friend's gaze.

"You guys KNOW what I'm talking about." Angela started to say to them when Dr. Hodgins appeared, a file in his hand.

"What is it Hodgins?" Brennan asked, happy to focus the subject of conversation on something else.

"Zach and I found out who Jane Doe IV is." He said smiling. "Her name is Kelly Anne Foster."

"Hey! It's MY job to tell you guys that!" Booth yelled out, looking hurt as Hodgins was grinning.

"Dude, don't take this personally. We found it faster only because we're smarter than you." Jack said with a smirk on his face.

"Hey!" Booth indignantly exclaimed, just before the entomologist returned his focus on Brennan.

"We found traces of SEROQUAN on the bones of Jane doe IV." Hodgins told the anthropologist.

"And THAT would be WHAT exactly?" Booth asked questioningly, eyes shifting from Hodgins to Brennan.

"It's a medicine used to replace LITHIUM in bipolar diseases." Brennan explained to Booth, whose face lit up at the revelation.

"And the only person who was bipolar and disappeared while boarding a cruise ship is Kelly Anne Foster." Booth said. He had read the file so many times of the women who were possible victims of the _Cruise Ship Serial Killer_ that he had remembered it easily.

"She disappeared last December while boarding a cruise ship, and died about two weeks ago." Hodgins added.

"And-" Zach started to say as he walked towards them with the metal plate containing the tiny piece of bone. "She was pregnant, as I'm sure Dr. Brennan, that you already knew." He looked at her acquiescing and then at Booth, who seemed to have trouble with his digestion.

"Fucking son of a bitch!" The FBI Agent angrily cried out.

"See?" Brennan started to tell him as an _I-told-you-so_. "I knew you'd get sensitive about it."

Booth opened his mouth to say something but his cell phone started to ring. _Saved by the bell!_

"Booth." He said gruffly, and then his jaw clenched tightly together. "Yes sir." He took a deep breath and Tempe saw the vein on his left temple pop out as he was listening to what she thought probably was Cullen, and she immediately knew something was wrong. He walked away from the Squints and Brennan to go sit down on a chair in the coffee break room.

"That call doesn't look pleasant." Hodgins stated as he saw Booth start to massage his neck with one hand, and then the tiny muscle between his eyes a few seconds later.

"Well." Angela said, turning her face toward the anthropologist. "Looks like it's going to be a long call." She grabbed her friend's arm, ignored the protests coming from Brennan, pushed her into her office and closed the door behind her. "We need to talk."

"What was that for?" Brennan asked as she took off her lab coat and put in on the back of her chair.

"I'm sorry Sweetie, but I had no other choice but to kidnap you!" Angela said as she sat down on her friend's couch and crossed her arms under her breasts. Tempe stared at her with wide eyes. "Speak." Angela ordered. _I'm gonna get this out of her whether she likes it or not!_

"When you say it like that, so kind and polite, I really feel like sharing things with you." Brennan sarcastically said to the artist, imitating her posture.

"You're being sarcastic! How sweet…Booth is really starting to rub off on you!" She happily stated, but it didn't make her friend more incline to talk. "Oh! Come on Brenn!" Angela exclaimed as she got off the couch and walked closer to her. "I KNOW something happened with Booth. Don't even try to deny it!" She added as she saw Brennan open her mouth to object. "You KNOW I will eventually find out what it is! Wouldn't you just feel better if YOU were the one telling ME?" Angela manipulatively said, grinning from ear to ear, which made Brennan smile.

"I don't know how you do it Ange." Brennan said to her friend. "You read people like an open book."

"I'm getting better at reading YOU, but it's Booth's behavior that first alerted me." Angela said, thoughtful. _I'm not forgetting you answering the phone where you sounded out of breath at 3:00 am!_

"What did he do?" Brennan asked out of curiosity. _I didn't notice him do anything unusual._

"First of all, in the car, he kept glancing at you in ways that I had never seen him glance at you before. Not that intense anyway." She saw Brennan smile. "And then when you were examining Kelly Anne Foster earlier, his eyes were focused on you, on ONLY you. They didn't leave you for a second, and he seemed in VERY deep thoughts while staring at you."

"And you saw all that from your office?" Brennan suspiciously asked.

"Yes, I'm THAT good." Angela seemed hurt by the lack of confidence from her friend. "I also saw the beginning of a smirk, but a good smirk."

"A good smirk?"

"Yes, a good smirk."

"Hum…" _What the hell is a good smirk?_

"And then, when you explained to Booth how Jane Doe IV was related to the Cruise Ship Serial Killer, you kept staring at his hands."

"I did not!" She said as a defense. _He really has soft hands…_

"Yes, you did. It wasn't long looks, but there was something about that look. You seemed…uncomfortable." Brennan put her hands in her pockets and felt herself blush. "And then THIS is what really alerted me..."

"What?" She asked. _Oh! Shit! What did I do?_

"I'll tell you if you let me speak!" Angela replied, eager to tell her view of her keen perception since she wanted to hear what Brennan's explanation would be. "You two were around the table, you know, looking at the skeleton, and then Booth walked closer to you, and you stepped back."

"I did not!" _Did I? Oh, my God! I did!_

"Yes, you did. And then he took another step closer, and you took another step back. This isn't like you Brenn. You DON'T step back from ANYONE." Angela stated. "That's when I knew something had happened, but I wasn't sure what exactly, because of all those mixed signals."

Brennan wasn't sure where to start, so she extended her left arm and showed her the ring on her hand. "It started with a proposal." She simply said as Angela let out a scream of joy and took her hand in hers to stare closely at the gold ring.

"Oh my God! This ring is gorgeous!"

"Calm down Ange!" Brennan said laughing. "It belonged to his grandmother. It's just on loan."

"Holy SHIT! He gave you his FAMILY ring!" Angela looked at her with a stunned face and an open mouth. _Oh! This is deep!_

"It's just borrowed. He didn't _give_ it to me. It's only for the case." She said, looking at it and turning it between her fingers. "Anyway, it was very awkward when he gave it to me, and then he told me not to lose it after kissing me-" Angela let out another squeal.

"He KISSED you!" She was clapping her hands, which made her friend let out a laugh.

"On the FOREHEAD!" Brennan added, as she took Angela's shoulders between her hands. "Would you stop being so childish! I'm not even finished with what I have to tell you! What will you do by the time I'm done? Faint?"

"OH MY GOD! YOU'VE SLEPT TOGETHER!" Angela exclaimed, a wide smile on her lips. Temperance secretly thanked Angela for having closed the door of her office, although she was pretty sure everybody had just heard everything.

"We didn't…" Brennan seriously said and then she saw her friend's happy face fall. _I sure wish we had…_

"Oh…" _Damn! Just when I thought it was getting good!_

"But we almost did." _And now I'm filled with the memory of his hands on me._

"What happened?" Angela asked, trying to steady her composure and looking like an anxious child about to embark into an amusement park.

"You called." Brennan stated simply, the beginning of a grin spreading on her lips.

"This is MY fault? Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" Angela genuinely looked crushed by what she had done. "I'm the one wanting this to happen, and I call you right in the middle of IT? This is so like me to do something like that! Will you ever be able to forgive me?" She suddenly stopped questioning Brennan, realizing that they must have kissed. "So you kissed him? Or he kissed you? Is he a good kisser? I'm sure he is. He sure looks like he is-"

"Angela! Shut up!" She ordered, putting a hand on her friend's mouth. Angela nodded without a word. "You are unstoppable!"

"How was it?" She asked, immediately closing her lips tight to let her friend talk. Brennan stared at Angela and sighed.

"Tender and sweet, but passionate." She told the artist as she remembered the feel of his lips and hands on her. "Amazing." She finally said, having dreamy eyes for a moment before stepping out of it and coming back to reality. "I don't remember EVER being kissed like that."

"I knew it!" Angela joyfully said. "I'm so jealous of you right now!" _But so happy!_

"When the phone rang, it was like a slap in the face: we were back to reality. And then, he said he didn't know why it happened."

"He said that? Unbelievable!" _Men! They're all the same!_ "Sorry...go on." Angela added when she saw the sad look on her friend's face.

"I was pissed off at him for acting as if it had not meant anything..." _Because it did, for me it did._

"Oh! Sweetie, I'm so sorry, but it's all bullshit! You know that, right? He cares for you." _He truly does._

"Right. Anyway, I'm not done with my story."

"Sorry…go on." Angela said before she mimicked her lips being zipped.

"I was getting dressed in the bathroom when he walked in on me…wearing only my bra and panty."

"WHAT!" _Fuck me! It's getting better and better! I should have popcorn!_

"Yeah…I was wearing the Lejaby set we bought together last month."

"SHUT UP!" _And he didn't jump you right there? What's wrong with him!_

"What?" _Why is she telling me to shut up?_

"It's just a figure of speech Brenn!" Angela said, suddenly jumping to her feet and pacing in her boss's office. "What did he say?" She anxiously asked.

Brennan looked thoughtful for a moment. "At first, nothing. He just stood there with his mouth open."

"I bet!" _I can just picture it: mouth and eyes wide open, and Little Booth probably doing the military salute…_

"And then, he said 'WOW." She said, simply stating the fact.

"Wow?" Angela asked. _He said Wow?_

"Wow." Brennan repeated again.

"Wow…" Angela murmured to herself more than to Brennan.

"What 'Wow'?" _What do you mean by wow?_

"Wow 'Wow'!" Angela answered.

"You're not making any sense!" Brennan annoyingly exclaimed.

"You're the one who said he said 'WOW'!" Angela snapped.

"He did!"

"Wow." Angela murmured.

"WHAT 'WOW'?"

"Just wow!" Angela started to get angry. "I'm saying 'WOW ' because he said 'WOW'!"

Brennan just stayed there, not saying anything. "You're _not_ very articulate right now Angela."

"Sweetie." She was now smiling. "For Booth to have said 'WOW' means that he must have been speechless. That's why I repeated the word, because it just dawned on me that you probably looked FABULOUS and he wasn't prepared to see a half naked Temperance Brennan wearing French lingerie and looking stunning."_Only minutes after kissing her to death!_

"Thank you…" _I'm not so sure._

"I didn't mean to say that you usually look like crap. It's just that you usually have more clothes than skin exposed." Angela said back, laughing, and wanting to explain her thoughts to her friend. "You probably knocked the wind out of him." _And then he realized he felt more for you than what he thought._

"You have too much faith in me."

"I'm sure you did! I was there when you tried it on, remember? I've seen you wearing it." Angela told her, a cocky smile on her lips. "You looked HOT!"

"You think?" Brennan was embarrassed by her friend's comments about her.

"Don't be shy! Now…What are you going to do about it?"

"About what?" It was so Temperance Brennan to ask for specifications that it sometimes was exasperating to the artist.

"About the KISS! The almost LOVE making! The NAKED parade!" Angela enthusiastically enumerated.

"I did NOT parade!" Tempe indignantly said back. _He's the one who walked in on me!_

"Of course you didn't Sweetie. It was just me being me. But there IS attraction between the two of you!" The brunette was happy to have seen it first. "I've always known it. I'm so good at reading people. So, again, what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing." _I can't do anything about it._

Angela looked horrified. "What do you mean by NOTHING!"

"We made a deal that we would figure out where we stand before doing anything irrational." Brennan told her friend with the most serious face Angela had ever seen her wear. "There is an attraction Ange, but it's a physical one. We want to see if there's more to it."

"You guys are so full of shit!" Angela angrily told her friend.

"Hey!" _Don't talk to me that way!_

"Don't HEY Me! You're the one living in the Land Of Denial!"

"The what!" _I never heard of a place called Land of Denial!_

"Just another expression Brenn! You HONESTLY want me to believe that what you two feel for one another is only PHYSICAL!" _Do I look stupid?_

Brennan stared at her friend and decided that she didn't want to answer that question. "You really are too emotional about this Angela." She calmly said to her friend, who sighed.

"I know. Sometimes it scares me too." Angela answered as she calmed down and sat back on the couch. _She's right, I'm more emotional about this than my own relationships! This has to stop._

"There's no need to fight about this, we're on the same side."

"I know." Angela got closer to Brennan and took a deep breath. "I just want the best for you. You know that, right?"

"Yes, I do." _I really do._

"Can you please just do me a favor?" She asked Brennan as she took her hands in hers for emphasis.

"Okay…" She was reluctant to say yes. _Oh! My God…what is she going to ask me to do now?_

"Just don't run away from whatever you are feeling for Booth." Angela said as she stared into the big blue-green eyes of her best friend.

Brennan stayed silent for a moment, because she WAS afraid of those feelings and she didn't quite know what kind of label to put on them yet. She knew they were strong, and that they were real. She also knew those feelings were new to her, but had yet to define them.

"Sweetie, promise me." Angela asked for a second time.

"I promise." Brennan finally said. _But Booth could be the one running from them…_

"Good." The artist seemed satisfied with the answer, and let go of Brennan's hands.

A few seconds later they saw Booth walk towards Brennan's office followed by Zach, Hodgins and Dr. Goodman. Brennan and Angela stood up and walked out of the office to join them as they saw the worry in Booth's face.

"What happened?" Tempe asked him. _I know that look…something bad happened._

All eyes were now focused on Special Agent Seeley Booth as he started to explain the situation. "Another newlywed got kidnapped two hours ago in New Jersey." He wasn't very happy to be the one telling the news.

"Oh my God…" Angela said, secretly wishing for a stool near by to sit on. "Isn't it ever going to stop?"

"What do we do?" Tempe asked him after a few thoughtful moments.

"We can't wait anymore Bones." He said to her. "We have to do something, like right now."

"I agree." She said and then she looked at her watch, it was 10:30 am. _Damn! I have lunch with Russ! _Booth stared at her and seemed to understand what she was thinking.

"It's fine. Go have lunch with your brother." He told her as he took his set of keys out of his jacket pocket. "I'll go interview the husband by myself, the poor guy is probably hysterical and not very coherent anyway." He took a key out of his set and gave it to Brennan. Zack and Hodgins turned and gave each other an odd look then turned back to Brennan and Booth. "Go home after your lunch with your brother, and I'll meet you there."

"Home?" Hodgins murmured to Zach, a huge questioning look on his face. Zach shrugged.

"Okay." She said as she put Booth's house key on her key set and watched him turn his back and walk towards the stairs. He suddenly stopped and turned around, wanting to say something to her but changing his mind when he saw the weird look on the Squints faces.

"Wear something nice." He simply said to her, a smile on his lips. _The killer has to notice you._

"I can do nice Booth. Actually, I can do 'WOW'!" She had an evil grin on her face and Angela had to put a hand on her mouth to stop from bursting out laughing.

He nodded to Brennan as he tried to suppress a smile and walked out of the Jeffersonian. _Point taken._

Brennan walked back to her office and closed the door behind her. She had one hour left before going to lunch with her brother and she would have loved starting to write her new book, but too much was going on for her to be able to really concentrate. She sat behind her desk and decided to call Russ to ask him if it would be okay with him if they met at 11:30 am instead of noon to eat lunch.

XxXxX

As Brennan busied herself in her office Hodgins and Zack began questioning each other in the lab. Hodgins looked at Zach and asked: "What day of the week is it?"

"Friday." Zach answered, looking at Jack as if he was from planet Mars.

"That's what I thought." Hodgins said before he exclaimed. "She has a WEDDING ring Zach! And Booth gave her his house KEY!" Hodgins then turned to Angela as Dr. Goodman coughed and walked away from the Squints. "Can someone PLEASE tell me what happened between Thursday and Friday for Brennan and Booth to suddenly look like an item?"

"They got married." Angela said nonchalantly, and then she quickly walked away from them. Zach and Hodgins stood there, eyes and mouths wide open and staring at one another. Jack was the first to come out of it and react to the news.

"WHAT!" The entomologist yelled, seconds before running after Angela. "WAIT a minute! Come back HERE! We're NOT done! ANGELA!"

**(TBC)**


	11. Mr Smith & Miss Jones

**A/N **I'm really sorry for the delay…Please forgive me. Thank you for the emails and asking me to continue this story. It meant a lot.

Remember: this story takes place after the finale of season one, so there is no Cam and no Sully.

XxXxX

**Not In This Life**

**Chapter eleven: Mr. Smith & Miss. Jones**

_Booth's house_

_1:00pm_

Tempe and her brother were on the porch of Booth's house when Russ told her that he was leaving town to go back home.

"What?" She said to Russ, surprised that she hadn't seen it coming. "So soon?"

"I've been here for almost a week now Tempe. I HAVE to go back, I have to return to my job, my girlfriend." It pained him to see he was causing her distress, but at the same time he was happy she finally cared. He had his sister back in his life and it was an amazing feeling after so many years apart. "I'm just a phone call away." He told her as he saw tears brimming in her eyes. _Please don't cry Tempe…_

"I know…" _I'll miss you. _

"If you need me, or want to come visit me back home…"

"I know." _I will._ She said to him as she wiped a tear off her cheek as he stepped closer and took her in his arms for a long brotherly hug. "I'll miss you." She said to her big brother, her voice full of emotion. After a few seconds, she opened her eyes as she heard a car's door being shut just a few feet away, and looked at Booth who was walking towards them.

"Am I interrupting something?" Booth asked as he saw that both of them were very emotional. "I could come back later…"

"Don't worry man, she's all yours." Russ said to him with a smirk, knowing the ring he had seen on his sister's finger was only for undercover job. _Yeah...right. _"I was just saying my goodbyes." Russ shook the guy's hand and then walked to his car. Before he opened the door he turned back and looked as his sister, who was trying hard to keep the tears from falling down. "Marco." He said to her as a smile spread on her face.

"Polo." She answered back. He smiled at Tempe, turned and stepped in his car. Russ buckled his seat belt and then rolled down the window to speak to Booth.

"Take good care of my sister." He told him with a stern look on his face.

"I promise." Booth sincerely said.

"I mean it. Anything happens to her, I'll bring my ass right back here to kick yours." He said to the FBI Agent, knowing perfectly well that Booth could have him face down on the ground in a nanosecond. _I bet he's thinking the exact same thing and that's why he's smiling._

"I swear to you I'll protect her with my own life." Booth told the young man as he realized that he meant every word. _My God…Would I really die for her?_

"Good. That's what I wanted to hear." Russ said to him before looking back at his little sister. "Tempe, don't be a stranger."

"I won't." She promised with a weak smile before Russ waved her goodbye and drove away.

Booth heard her take a deep breath in and then he turned to face her. "You okay?"

"I'm fine Booth." She said, a light smile on her face. "I've lived without him for fifteen years, I'll be just fine."

"Sometimes Bones," Booth started to tell her, unsure if it was a territory he wanted to step in, "it's just, you know, okay to feel like crying."

"I just liked having my big brother looking out for me. I didn't know how much I missed having someone caring for me." She said to Booth as they walked into his house.

"I do…" He seriously told her as she turned around to face him.

"I know." She said giving him a genuine smile. "I know that Booth."

"Just checking."_ I wanted to be sure you knew._

"Now, give me five minutes." She said to Booth as she looked at her watch. "I'll go change and then I'll be ready."

"Sure, we have time. There's still half an hour before the meeting with the travel agent."

XxXxX

Within fifteen minutes they were in the SUV, all dressed up and looking much like a couple as they drove to the Pacific Cruise Line Agency.

"We're going first to the Pacific Agency and then we have an appointment with the Tropical one." Booth said to Brennan as he gave her a quick look. She was wearing a white dress that went just below the knees, it had no straps and it was modeling her body like a second skin. She had put her hair up in some sort of loose bun and many locks of hair were flowing around. Her make-up was light but she had put a special accent on her eyes, which looked more bright then usual. _It's weird to think that this sweet and angelic looking woman is a freakingly smart and ass-kicking one! _Booth thought as he kept his eyes on the road.

"Why a white dress?" Booth asked all of a sudden, pulling her out of her reverie. "I think I saw you wear something white only two or three times this past year."

"Because they were all wearing white when they died." Brennan replied. _So, why not push his fantasy a bit further?_

"Great." Booth sarcastically said, looking annoyed. "This is really reassuring me. Thanks."

"Relax, I'm not dying today." She said, full of confidence.

"No? Really! Since when do you own a crystal ball?"

"I 'm serious Booth." She said as she faced him. "Remember, the women were kidnapped BOARDING the ship, not when they bought the tickets from the travel agency."

"True…" _I don't like this..._

"What's wrong Booth?" _Something's bothering him._

"Nothing." He said, refusing himself to look at her. _It was easier before. _She saw the muscle of his jaw tighten and could almost see his right temple vein pop out.

"There IS something. Spill it out." She ordered, staring at her partner without blinking.

"It's SPIT it out Bones. And don't worry about it, it's nothing." _It really was easier when I didn't care so much._

"One of the things that I've learned while working with you Booth, is that if YOU worry about it, then I should worry about it too."

He took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. _I have a bad feeling about this. _He passed a hand through his hair. "Just...be careful."

"Gut feeling?" She anxiously asked, not daring to make fun of his gut feeling.

"Yeah…" He finally said after a few seconds of silence. "You're beautiful, young and smart. You're exactly what he wants and I have no doubt that this psycho will make you his next...prey." _Not to say 'victim'._

"I can defend myself." _I am a black belt in karate. Hmmm...he thinks I'm beautiful?_

"It's easier said than done Bones."

"I'll be fine." She seemed so sure of herself that it pissed him off.

"Dammit Bones!" Booth angrily cried out, taking Temperance by surprise, as he parked his car in front of the travel agency. "Don't you get it?" He asked as he unbuckled his seat belt and turned his body to face her.

"Get what?" She innocently asked. "I'm not afraid of him."

"You SHOULD be Temperance!" Booth exclaimed out loud. " This guy is smart! He will act when you least expect it! He already killed four women that we know of! What do I have to say to you that WILL make you understand YOU SIMPLY CANNOT UNDERESTIMATE THE GUY?"

"Okay." She said, but he didn't seem to hear her and continued, which made her smile. _Did he just_ _call me Temperance?_ _Why couldn't I see before how much he really_ _cares about me?_

"He's dangerous! He's fucked up in his head! And what I've learned throughout the years I've worked as an FBI Agent is that there's nothing scarier than a real wacko." Booth stopped talking as he saw that she was smiling. "You think it's funny?" He was annoyed that she seemed to take all of this lightly. "It's NOT funny Bones! You could DIE! And I don't want you to die! I don't think-" He couldn't finish up his sentence as her hand covered his mouth.

"Will you shut up?" She asked him with a light laugh. "I said OKAY. I understand what you're saying. I'll be careful."

"You will?" A skeptic Booth asked as soon as she freed her hand of his mouth. _Are you saying this just to please me?_

"I swear I won't underestimate the killer." She said to her partner, with her right hand in mid air as if she was testifying in court with as much honesty and sincerity as possible. He looked at her for a long moment and then sighed.

"Alright, I believe you."

"I wouldn't lie to you." She told him as they got out of the car. "When I say something, it's because I really mean it."

"I know." He said as he paced his steps to get by her side. "Now Miss. Jones," Booth started to say as he presented his right hand to her with a wide grin, "give me your hand." She stared at him strangely.

_What? Take your hand? Please don't make me touch you..._"I won't take your hand Booth. I'm not a hand-in-hand kind of person."

"No, you're not, but Rachel Jones is, so give me your left hand and smile." As he said this she grimaced at him and took his hand in hers. His hand was warm and soft and she felt as if it was burning her skin. _Damn you Seeley Booth!_

"We look stupid." She whispered as they both pushed the front door of the Pacific Line Travel Agency and stepped inside.

"No Sweetheart, we look in love." He tightened his grip on her hand as he said this, remembering the feeling of her skin the night before and enjoying every moment of it. _Is she thinking what I'm thinking?_

XxXxX

"Hello! How may I help you?" Asked a tall red haired woman at the reception desk who spoke with a British accent.

"Hello!" Booth answered to her. "We have an appointment with Mr. Daniel Russo."

"Yes, your name please?" She asked as she stared at her computer screen.

"James Smith." Booth casually answered as she typed his alias name on her keyboard.

"Of course Mr. Smith, if you want to sit down please." She told them as she indicated the couch behind them with a gesture of her hand. "I'll call Mr. Russo and let him know you have arrived."

About one minute later, Daniel Russo appeared in front of them. He was about forty years old and shorter than most men. They both stood up from the couch as he walked closer to them. "Mr. Smith and...???" He said as he looked at Temperance.

"Rachel Jones." Brennan answered as she shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Follow me in my office please, we'll be more comfortable."

As they entered the office, Booth saw a picture on the wall with two girls on it. "Your daughters?" _He doesn't look like a serial killer._

"Yes." Mr. Russo proudly said, a smile on his face as he looked at them. "Twins. They just turned fourteen last month."

"Twins, huh?" Booth said, half smiling. "It must have been hard for you and your wife." This seemed to not make the travel agent at ease.

"Excuse my fiancé." Brennan said to the man shooting a glaring look at Booth. "He's unable to mind his own business."

"It's okay. It's just...My wife died when the twins turned five."

"I'm sorry." Booth said as he bit his tongue not to ask: _Did you kill her?_

"Don't worry about it." He said as he sat down behind his desk. "Now lets talk about where you'd like to travel." Mr. Russo said inviting the couple to sit down.

"We talked about the Bahamas, Guatemala, Hawaii..." Brennan answered completely playing the role.

"Okay...How many days?"

"Two weeks." Booth said. "It will be our Honeymoon..." As he said this he looked at his partner and gave her a huge smile, which she reciprocated trying hard not to roll her eyes.

"Congratulations! Then I guess it will be the Honeymoon Suite?" Mr. Russo said as he looked at his computer and typed the information they were giving him.

"Yes!" Joyfully answered Booth. "We want it all, the big room with the big bath, the champagne and strawberries, the King Size bed...you know, 'cause we'll spend a LOT of time in there..starting our new family..." As he said this he winked at Temperance. _Oh! She'll kill me for this._

"James!" She told Booth, acting embarrassed. "I'm sure he doesn't need THAT much information!"She looked at him incredulously.

"I'm sorry Love, I'm just so happy you agreed to have THAT many kids." _Hehehe._ There was mischief in Booth's voice, and you could see the corner of his mouth curl in the half smile he tried so hard to hide.

"How many are you planning on having?" Mr. Russo asked. "If it's not too much to ask?"

"Five." Booth proudly said as he heard Brennan cough beside him. "You'll be such an amazing mother Sweetheart, loving and caring, I just can't wait." He took her hand and kissed it, enjoying that she had fire in her eyes.

"Five?!" The travel agent said, surprised. "Wow!" He looked at Temperance. "I bet you're wishing you'll have a set of twins, huh?" He added with a laugh.

"Why not?" She answered, smiling, trying desperately not to grit her teeth. "I've grown up an only child, and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. I probably will welcome the house being full of children." _Five kids? What a nightmare! Is he nuts! I'm gonna kill'm!_

"I only have two girls and I find it exhausting." He told her, half smiling. "Well, you better get some good night sleep while you still can!"

"With James snoring almost every night, I'm already experiencing sleep deprivation." She said, happy to get a bit of revenge.

"I don't snore!" Booth exclaimed, looking hurt.

"Of course you don't Honey." She emphasized the word 'honey' and playfully winked at Mr. Russo as she said it. "You just breathe noisily."

"I do not!" He repeated again.

"Honey, I LOVE you just as you are." She said as she stared directly into his eyes without blinking, which seemed to shut him up for a moment. _Oh! This is priceless..._

"You bet your ass you do." He said with a wide smile and a twinkle in his eyes.

XxXxX

After half an hour, Booth and Brennan were on their way out of the office of Daniel Russo.

"Thank you Mr. Russo, we'll think about it, and if you're the best price, we'll certainly come back." Booth said, shaking the man's hand.

"You'll come back." The little man confidently said as he watched them leave his office.

They were about to walk out of the Pacific Cruise Line Travel Agency when Brennan spotted the coffee machine.

"If I don't drink coffee right now, I think I may faint." She told Booth, looking in her purse for a few quarters.

"I'll go get the car." He told her. "Can you get one for me too 'sweety'?" He said with a wink.

"Sure 'honey'." She said, the sarcasm dripping from her voice as she walked toward it and saw that the man standing in front of the coffee machine wasn't a client but a handy man. _Oh! No! _"Excuse me, is the coffee machine broken?"

"No ma'am, I'm just cleaning it and refilling it. I'll be done in a minute."

"Good." She stood behind him and waited for him to finish. She filled the two cups with hot coffee, and walked to the black SUV, giving Booth his cup as he opened the door for her to step in.

"This is very much welcomed." Booth said as he took a sip.

"I know. How much longer can we survive on two or three hours of sleep every night?"

"I have no idea, but one way or another, we'll need a long good night sleep."

"I vote for that." She said as she took another sip of her coffee.

"Am I hallucinating, or are we complaining about work?" Booth confusingly asked.

"We're not complaining about work, we're complaining about lack of sleep." Brennan answered him. "I don't mind that my work is demanding. What I ask for is for a good night of sleep once a week. Like eight hours of sleep uninterrupted." _That would be nice._

"I don't remember when I had that much sleep." Booth said. _I must have been twelve years old._

"Me neither." _The best sleep I had in a very long time was two nights ago, in your arms..._

"Are you up for the Tropical Cruise Line Agency?" Booth asked as he put his cup in the coffee holder.

"Sure. When I'll be done with my cup of coffee, I'll be as good as new."

"Alright!" He affirmatively nodded his head and they took the fifteen minutes drive to the Tropical Agency. "I say we go in, we do our thing, stay alert with the people we meet and then we go out, go buy some food, and then go home."

"Sounds good to me."_ Home..._

The Tropical Agency didn't have anyone out of the ordinary. The appointment went as good as the previous one and they were out of the office about an hour later, thanking Mrs. Fisher for her travel suggestions.

On their way to Booth's house, they stopped at the grocery store and bought a pre-roasted chicken, some salad fixings and potatoes, and then they went home where they silently prepared the dinner as they each drank a bottle of beer, engrossed in their own thoughts.

"Do you think she's dead?" Brennan's question came out as a surprise for Booth, and he stood there, numb, as he registered the question and understood it's meaning.

_She's speaking of Kelly Anne Foster. "_Yeah, I think she might be." His answer made her thoughtful and she stared down at her plate. "But you know Bones, I don't own a crystal ball either." As he said this he saw her lips curl up in a smile, which he reciprocated.

XxXxX

Brennan woke up in a start and sat in her bed, her senses in full alert. _There was someone outside my window. _She stood still for a moment and she heard what sounded like someone playing with the handle of the front door. _Oh! My god! _She jumped out of bed and slowly opened her bedroom door, wincing with a grimace when she heard it squeak. She walked out of her bedroom and saw that Booth's bedroom door wasn't fully closed. She took a peek inside and saw that he was sleeping peacefully. _Do I have the time to wake him up? I don't think so..._

She walked on tiptoes down the corridor to the living room and grabbed one of the fire irons that were beside the fireplace, and held it over her right shoulder as if it was a baseball bat when she was taken by surprise as strong arms grabbed her from behind, disarming her and covering her mouth with one hand so she couldn't scream.

**(TBC)**


	12. Another Booth

**A/N **A HUGE thanks to those who read and reviewed my fic, it means a lot! I know I've let you guys down this summer, and I'm very sorry. Very sorry.

**WARNING:** I rewrote this chapter because I wasn't happy with the last result. There are a few changes, mostly in Booth and Brennan's relationship.

XxXxX

**Chapter twelve: Another Booth**

When Brennan felt herself being grabbed from behind, a panic went through her before she could even realize what was happening. She tried to free herself with a self defense tactic but the pair of arms that were holding her, anticipating any move she might make, were too strong, and she found herself unarmed in a heartbeat. _I'm going to die today after all, _she thought as she struggled to free herself. _I won't go without a fight!_ she told herself seconds before the person behind her started talking.

"It's me Bones, don't scream." Booth whispered to her as he loosened his grip and let her go.

"I'm SO going to KILL you Seeley Booth! Do you know that?" She heard herself whisper, angry, as she breathed for what felt like the first time in minutes. "You scared me!" She added, her voice becoming out harsh whispered. Booth put his index on his lips as a sign for her to keep quiet, took the gun that had been resting on the coffee table and placed himself behind the opening of the front door, Brennan behind him and held the gun ready to shoot as he saw the door open.

A tall man stood on the threshold of Booth's house and then he slowly walked in. The stranger had not closed the door behind him, and within a fraction of a second he felt a cold piece of metal on his right temple that made him froze. He then heard the distinct _click!_ of Booth's service revolver being cocked to fire. _Shit!_

"Move an inch and I'll blow your head off!" Booth calmly told the stranger, his heart pounding in his chest as he tried to identify the intruder despite the darkness of the kitchen.

"Please, don't blow my head off!" The stranger pleaded as he put both his hands up in the air. If the lights were on Brennan would have seen the stunned look on Booth's face as he tried to focus his sight to see the face of the person invading his home.

"Jared?! Are you fucking crazy?" Booth said before disarming his gun, and then he jumped on the guy, angry as one can be, both of them landing on the kitchen floor. "You scared the hell out of me!" He yelled as he took the man by the throat.

"What's going on?!" Temperance asked, but she got no answer.

"I'm sorry Seeley! Stop beating me!" The guy screamed as he tried to free himself from Booth. "Stop hurting me!!!" He yelled again.

"I'll beat you up if I want to you stupid asshole! Mom isn't here to protect you!" Booth said as he grabbed his brother by the collar. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

_Mom?_ Brennan thought. "He's your BROTHER?!" She incredulously asked Booth as she realized what was happening. She walked to the kitchen counter and switched the light on. _Of course, they really look alike, although Booth is bigger and taller than his brother. Well, my Booth. Did I just say MY Booth? Unbelievable!_

"Yes!" Booth angrily answered her, still concentrated on smacking his brother around. "Do you have ANY idea what you just DID?" He asked his brother. "This is my HOUSE! This is where MY SON SLEEPS! It's supposed to be SAFE! I thought it WASN'T anymore! You SCARED the HELL out of ME!" Booth was very angry and didn't even seem to remember that Brennan was there.

"I'm sorry Seeley!" Jared cried out, trying to protect his face from his brother who was about five inches taller, thirty pounds of muscles heavier and about eight years older. "Stop it!"

Temperance just stood there, watching the brother's quarrel, her feet cemented to the floor and her mouth open. "Booth, let him go." She said to him, but he didn't seem to hear her. She tried again as the two continued to argue, "Booth, stop being so childish and let him up." Nothing. Finally..."STOP IT BOTH OF YOU!" She yelled, now getting their attentions as they turned their heads to face her. Jared stared at Temperance and then at his brother and a smirk spread on his lips.

"Hello!" He charmingly said to her with a huge smile, which made Booth angry once more and he started to smack him again.

"You do not 'hello' her!" He told Jared, a tint of jealousy in his voice.

"She's hot!"

"Shut up!" Booth threatened.

"Where did you get her?" The younger Booth asked, visibly wanting to piss off his brother.

"In a museum." Booth answered between his teeth as he tightened his grip.

"Huh? Like...what? She was in a crystal box, standing on a turning plate?" He asked, laughing. "Can I also have one?"

"How OLD are you guys?! Two?" Brennan asked as they were both trying to slap each other around. She sighed deeply and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "Stop beating each other!"

"You stupid asshole-" Booth started to say to his little brother, completely ignoring Brennan, who walked towards Booth and took the gun from his jogging pants.

"STOP OR I'LL SHOOT BOOTH! DON'T MAKE ME USE THIS!!!" She yelled, the gun pointed at both of them. Jared went numb with his mouth open and Booth's eyes bulged out of their sockets. _NOW_, _I seem to get their attentions..._

"Bones, don't be stupid..." Booth said with an arm in the air, wanting to reach for the gun, as he stood up on his feet.

"Yeah, right. I suppose you were just shining with intelligence right over there?" She said, pointing at his brother still lying on the floor, not daring to move.

"Give me the gun." Booth ordered.

"Don't worry, I wouldn't have used it on you two, that would have wasted good ammunitions." She said with a smirk as she gave it back to him. "Oh, please! I had the safety on! It got your attention though, didn't it?" Booth skeptically looked at his gun and unloaded it, not wanting to take chances with his brother around.

"This is my little brother Jared." He told her as he stared at his brother with a condescending look. "Jared, this is Temperance Brennan."

Jared stood up, tried to straighten his clothes and took a step closer to Brennan as he held a hand to her. "Nice to meet you." He said with a charming smile.

"Nice you meet you too...I guess." She said back as she shook his hand. "Are you two always this _loving_ around each other?" She asked as she saw Booth walk to the refrigerator and pour himself a glass of milk. He took a sip and deeply sighed. She stared at Booth and saw the vein on his temple pop out, as it always did when he was annoyed.

"Only when I invade his private home at 2 o'clock in the middle of the night without telling him." Jared hadn't finished his sentence before Booth slapped him behind the head. "Hey!" _Stop it!_

"NEVER do that again!" He warned him before he sat down at the kitchen table. "I could have blown your head off." _Not that I would have blown much..._

"I'm sorry Seeley." He told him as he took a seat beside him. "I was in town for a business meeting, and then we went out for a drink. I had the key to the house you gave me a while back, so, I figured..."

"Don't figure anything next time, okay? You call first to tell me you're coming Jared." He told his younger brother, annoyed. "You scared me to death." Booth truthfully admitted as he past a hand through his hair. "This is my HOME Jared!" He said for a second time that night, but without anger this time. "For a moment you made me think my home wasn't safe anymore."

Temperance went to the stove and started to boil some water. "I'm making some chamomile tea. Do you want something Jared?" She asked, not caring that she was in her pajama.

He stared at the half-full glass of milk of his big brother and decided to take the same thing. "Look Seeley, how many times do I have to say I'm sorry?" Booth sighed as he heard this and squeezed the muscle between his eyes.

"Are you hungry?" He asked his brother as he stood up and went to get some bread.

"Yeah." Jared said as Brennan put the glass of milk she had prepared in front of him. "Thanks." She sat down in front of him, took her cup of chamomile tea in her hand and blew on it to cool it a bit before taking a sip, and that is when Jared saw she was wearing his grandmother's ring. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed, spitting a few drops of milk on the table. "Damn, sorry." He stood up to take a napkin to wipe is mess off and then he walked towards Booth. "You gave HER grandma's ring?" He asked him, a smile on his face.

"What?" Booth asked, having not heard him since his mind was on the previous events. _If Parker had been here, I would have probably fired my gun before even looking at the person entering my house. Damn you Jared! You stupid piece of shit!_

"Yes, he gave it to me." Brennan told Jared, a smile on her face as she stared at him. "But he also told me not to lose it or he'd have to kill me."

"This is SO my brother!" Jared told her, smiling that his brother seemed absorbed by the four slices of bread he was putting in the toaster. "You used to be more romantic than that Seeley!"

"Hey! I'm a romantic man...even if they say romance is overrated." He said to his younger brother.

"Who 'they'?" Brennan asked.

"You know...They." Booth answered. "People."

"I never heard that." She said, sipping her tea.

"That's because you're never listening to 'The People'." He told her before turning his back to her, so he didn't see the grimace she was giving him, which made Jared smile.

"Wow, I really feel the love!" Jared exclaimed, laughing. "Now, let me see the ring." He asked her and was surprised to see her take it off her finger. "Isn't it supposed to be bad luck to take it off?"

"It's not really mine, it's a loan." She told him.

"A loan?" Jared repeated, not having the time to get the explanation as Booth took the slices of bread out of the toaster and put them in the middle of the table. He got the butter out of the refrigerator and turned towards Temperance.

"Bones, do you want jelly?"

"Yeah, thanks." She said, taking back the ring and seeing a weird but funny look on Jared's face. "What?"

"Bones?!" Jared said out loud more to himself than to anyone else. "You? You're Bones?" He asked, looking at Brennan with a very surprised look.

"I am." She answered with a smile as she saw the dumbfound look Booth's brother was giving her. _Is it supposed to be bad?_

"She's Bones?" He was now looking at his brother and he and Brennan were staring at the younger Booth like he came from another planet.

"She's Bones." Booth said as he sat down. "What's wrong with you?"

"You stupid piece of shit!" Jared told his brother, a huge smile on his face. "NOW I get it! You lying bastard!"

"Hey!" Booth protested. "Watch your mouth!"

"First, you tell me you hate her and then you give her grandma's ring?!" Jared said. "Unbelievable!"

"I never hated grandma!" Booth protested. _Why the hell is he smiling like that?_

"Not grandma! HER!" Jared said, pointing Brennan, who suddenly looked offended by the remark.

"Hey, I'm right over here." Brennan said with her hand up. "I CAN hear everything you're saying. I'm not deaf, and I am sitting right next to you."

"I'm sorry...it's nothing personal." Jared started to say to her before facing his big brother again.

"Are you back on drugs Jared?" Booth asked, staring weirdly at his brother. _Oh God, don't tell me he's using again! _

"I've been clean for seven years, but thanks for the vote of confidence." Jared annoyingly answered. _This is what he thinks of me? Of course it is...He's the one who had to clean up my mess back then._

"Then what is wrong with you? What the hell are you talking about?" Booth asked. _I don't hate Bones_!

"You told me last Fall you hated Bones!" Jared exclaimed, smiling. "Like HELL you did!"

"WHAT?!" An outraged Temperance said out loud as she stared at her partner. "You HATE me?!" _What the Hell?! _

"What?!" Booth surprisingly asked his brother. "I don't hate her!" He looked at Brennan and made the wacko gesture towards his brother and then slapped him behind the head, again. "Stop telling lies!"

"Stop it!" The younger Booth protested as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Stop saying stupid things and I'll stop slapping you!" He told him. "Why the hell are you saying that? I don't hate her!"

"I was listening to you WHINNING about her, saying how unbelievably ANNOYING she was, and how you hated working with her, and I stood there with my mouth shut, which is really something for me, and I LISTENED to you over and over again. And I'm pissed off because all of this time you wanted to...to sleep with her!"

"WHAT?!" Temperance yelled out loud, not really sure if she was supposed to laugh or be angry anymore._ He WHAT?_

"I never said THAT!" Booth re torqued, visibly shocked. "Are you OUT of your freakin' MIND Jared?! Where are your manners?!"

"I swear to God I'm telling the truth!" Jared said to Brennan, trying hard not to laugh. "He told me he couldn't stand you, that you were impossible to work with, I really thought you were an ogre or a troll or something!" After saying that, he heard Booth snort. "Now that I'm seeing you, I understand WHY he SO wanted to convince himself that he hated you! He didn't hate you, he LIKED you, THAT'S why he hated you!" _Am I making any sense?_

"A troll...?" Brennan repeated, not believing what she was hearing. _An OGRE?_

"I should have know better...I should have known it was because he was attracted to you and it pissed him off." Jared added.

"You told him you couldn't stand me?" She asked Booth, trying hard to hide the fact that it was hurting her a bit more than she would have liked.

"I...No...I..." He turned to face his brother and gave him a fuming look. "You're dead." He whispered to Jared, which made him laugh. _I can't believe we're related!_

"Anything else I should know?" She asked the young man.

"Well, -" He couldn't even start his sentence before he had received another slap on the head from his big brother. "Hey! You're gonna give me brain damage doing that!"

"You shut up! You've ALREADY got brain damage!" Booth said as a warning. _Shut up if you value your life!_

"Don't worry about it 'honey'." Temperance sourly said to Booth, trying very hard to hide her real feelings. "I didn't like you that much either at first."

"What?" Booth surprisingly said, which made his brother laugh. "What's not to like?" He asked as he touched his chest. "I'm a likable person. Everybody likes me."

"Not everybody, it's statistically impossible." Temperance told him. "What about the ones you arrested?" She asked, glad to have found some people that truly disliked him, which made her smile. "Statistically impossible."

Booth gave her a grimace and turned to face his brother. "You see?" He told Jared. "That's why I couldn't stand her!" He took a bite of his toast and started to speak with his mouth full. "With Bones, it's all facts, statistics and science."

"And this is supposed to be bad?" He asked his brother, confused. "Didn't you tell me you had to beg Cullen on your knees for him to accept HER as your partner?"

"The woman has no gut feelings!" Booth exclaimed, speaking about it as if it was the biggest shame ever.

"God! She has no gut feelings!" Jared said, imitating his brother. "What are you waiting for? Arrest her!"

"Ah! Ah! Ah!" Booth said, annoyed. "Very funny."

"Truth is, I really don't have any gut feelings, but what's bugging him is that I'm smarter than him." Brennan said to Jared as she stood up to put the empty cup in the sink. _You begged Cullen on your knees?_

"Sweetheart, you're smarter than everybody." He told her with a fake warm smile, which she reciprocated.

"I know."

"This is what I call Ferocious Love." Jared said to his brother.

"Umm..." Booth started to say. "About that..."

"But I'm proud of you, I always thought you'd end up with a stupid girl with big boobs." Jared said, which seemed to shock Booth but made Brennan laugh out loud.

"Really? This is what you think of me?" _You think you know people, and then BAM! They stab you in the back!_

"Lets just be realistic here. Most of the girls you've went out with in High School looked like super models. No offense." He added, looking at Temperance.

"None taken." She answered, her back on the kitchen counter as she watched the two of them. _I guess..._

"What can I say, I had good taste." Booth proudly said.

"YOU had good taste, it's the girls that didn't have any!" Jared said before putting a stop to a piece of toast that went flying in his direction that his brother had just thrown his way.

"What's all this talk about him having good taste, but in past tense?" Temperance said as she stared at both of them, trying to look as insulted as she could. "What is your definition of good taste? Am I good taste?" She asked, both hands on her hips, her body in full value. Jared had trouble containing his laugh as he saw his brother trying to find the right answer to that question.

"Bones, with you, it's not the same." Booth started to say, knowing perfectly well he always thought she was beautiful and that his brother thought the same, but wasn't sure it was the place or the time to define the subject. _I'm a dead man!_

"Not the SAME?" She repeated. _Am I supposed NOT to be insulted?_

"You know, you're beautiful, but you are also very smart." He carefully told her. _And you're my friend_. "You're NOT just a piece of ass." He added as he chewed on his piece of bread. _Shit! Now I'm dead._

"Not JUST a piece of ASS?" She exclaimed, repeating his exact words. _Oh! How I'd like for you to choke on that piece of bread!_

"No...I mean...it's not what I meant...I mean..." He knew he was in trouble as he was babbling his way out of this misery. Jared silently watched the whole scene sitting beside Booth, his arms crossed on his chest and a smile on his face, ready to see his big brother put his foot in his mouth again.

"What DID you mean Booth? You're a grown man who can articulate your thoughts. So, explain yourself." She ordered, looking at him without blinking, both hands still on her hips as a threat. _Is he the kind of man who thinks a woman is only a piece of ass?No...it's not him. It can't be so, it's just not Booth..._

"It's just..." After chewing his words he started to speak slowly. "You are really beautiful AND you are smart. THAT'S a bonus!" He proudly said.

"What's the bonus, the brain or the ass?" She asked. _Think carefully..._

"What?"

"What's more important to you: being beautiful or smart?" _And be honest._

"Huh..." Booth stared at her with his mouth standing open and couldn't quite believe he had to answer that. _I'm a man! Of course I like the ass! But I don't like stupid women either! The body or the brain? A stupid woman with a goddess body, or a genius one looking like a troll? _"Listen Bones...in the real world physical beauty counts. It may be sad, but it is so. You are more likely to fall in love with a beautiful woman than with one looking like a troll, even if she's the most kind, funny and smart woman you know."

"I see..."

"Truth is, it's not often you can find someone with the brain of Einstein and with a beauty that will make your heart stop just with one look." _I guess I'm lucky I found one..._

"It's physically impossible for a look to stop a heart." Brennan seriously told Booth, which made him smile.

"When you look at someone in the eyes, and you only see that person, and your mouth suddenly becomes dry, and you feel as if you might have trouble taking your next breath, or that it seemed like your heart just skept a beat, yeah Bones, it's possible." She stared at him and didn't answer.

Booth broke the stare and turned towards his brother and smiled, thinking it was probably the time to tell his brother the truth about him and Brennan. "We're not really engaged, her and me." Booth confessed.

"What do you mean, not really?"

"It's a work assignment." Booth told his younger brother. "We're sort of undercover. They thought that we would pass more easily as a couple if we tried to learn small things about each other."

Jared's eyes went from Temperance to his brother, and then back at the forensic-anthropologist. _Really?_ "My job sucks." He said, which made Booth start to laugh.

"Don't tell me you've just realized that?!"

"My job assignments don't look anything like this, and my partners don't look ANYTHING like HER." He desperately said. "Why didn't I become an FBI Agent?"

"You wouldn't have pass the training." Booth told his brother as a matter-of-fact. _Plus, you are way too immature._

"You're so right." Jared said, laughing, as he got up from his chair and looked at his watch. "Well Dr. Brennan, it was a real pleasure to finally meet you, but I'm beat and I have to get some sleep."

"It's been..._interesting_." Temperance hesitated on the right word to qualify their meeting.

"You're not taking the guest room tonight Jared, you're taking the couch." Booth said, knowing perfectly well his brother was about to walk into Brennan's room.

"What? Why?" He asked. _Don't tell me..._

"Because I'M in the guest room." Brennan answered.

"Really?" He asked, astonished. _No way!_

"Why would I lie?"

"Wow..." He looked at his older brother and smiled, which made Booth chew on his upper lip as he tried to suppress a smile. "I'm impressed."

"What?" Temperance innocently asked._ What's with 'the look'?_

"It's just-" Jared started to say.

"Shut up Jared." Booth warned.

"What?" She asked, a determine look on her face. "What is it?" She asked a second time, staring at both of them.

"I'm just...surprised...that's all." Jared started to say. "I know my brother, and you're not the guest room type."

"I don't know what that means."

"You know...we've already established that you are more HIS room type." As he was saying this to her, he received another slap behind the head from his brother, who had stood up from his chair.

"Stop talking and go to bed." Booth ordered him as he pushed him inside the guest room, which made Jared laugh. Booth closed the door behind him and stared at Brennan, who was standing right next to him, her hands resting on her hips. "I'm sorry, he doesn't get out much." He added, which made her smile.

"I doubt that, but don't worry about it." She said, looking into Booth's room. "Where will I sleep?"

"Take my room, I'll take the couch." He said as he walked in to take one pillow from his bed.

"Booth, don't be stupid." Brennan told him. _There's enough room for both of us._

"Yeah, Seeley! Don't be stupid!" Jared yelled behind the closed door, which made Temperance smile.

"SHUT UP JARED!" Booth yelled back, throwing the pillow at the closed door. "Bones," He said in a whisper. "I really don't think it's a good idea."

"Can you please talk louder? I can't hear anything!" Jared asked, standing on the other side of the door, his ear pressed against it.

"Will you just stop it already?!" Booth warned him. _Will he ever grow up?!_

"Why?" Temperance asked.

"Because he's getting on my nerves! That's why!" Booth answered, which made her laugh.

"Not that! I meant why do you think we won't be able to sleep in the same bed?" _I want to hear you say it. _"We're mature adults." She seriously added, staring in his eyes and trying not to blink. _We can do this._

"Bones..." He started to say, a hand comfortably resting on his hips and the other one passing through his thick brown hair. He took a deep breath in. "We can't." He simply said.

"Can't?" She repeated. "Can't or won't?" _Please Booth, I think I can control myself, but I ache for your touch, even if it's only to hold me near you all night_

"Both Bones." He told her, his voice right above a whisper. "I don't think I can do this. I don't think I'll be able to control myself."

"Really?" She asked, half smiling, but what always surprised him was that unsure tone in her voice.

"Really." He said. "Bones...you're killing me..." _You are the one making my heart stop._

"I am?" She asked, not fully understanding what Booth said. She wanted more explanation but was cut off by Jared.

"Hello??? Are you guys still the-?" Jared started to ask, but he couldn't finish up his question as the door flew open and landed right on his nose, which made him lose balance and he ended up on the floor, his hand covering up his nose, tears in his eyes. "Damn it Seeley!" He yelled out. "I think you broke my nose!"

"Is it bleeding?" Brennan practically asked.

"No..." Jared said as he looked at the palm of his hand.

"Then you're fine." She said.

"You speak ONE more word," Booth threatened. "and it WILL be broken.Kapish?"

"Fine." Jared said, getting up on his feet and watching his brother as he closed the door of the guest room._ Dick Head!_

XxXxX

"Sorry about that." Booth said to Brennan, now that they were alone in the hallway. "I love him, but sometimes, I could just strangle him."

"You two have a special brotherly bond." She said as an observation.

"You have no idea..." Booth said, not wanting to get into the dynamic of his family. He squeezed the tight muscle between his eyes and deeply sighed. "This is ridiculous."

"What is?"

"Honestly, right now, I'd say about everything." He said, looking tired.

"Look Booth, we're adults." Temperance started to say. "We can sleep in the same room, and in the same bed. You obviously are tired, and I am too. You can't go on that couch, you're too tall for it, and you need a good night of sleep, as do I. And what difference would it really make? It's not like a wall standing between us would be enough to dissuade us to have sex if we decided to. Right?" _And we both know we want to._

Booth stood there, analyzing everything she just said and agreed. "I guess not." _But temptation will be hard to resist having you at arms reach._

"And with your brother next door who seems to listen to everything? I don't think so." She said, which made him laugh. "Then it's settled." She grabbed his arm and pushed him past the threshold, she bent down to take the pillow on the floor, walked in and closed the door. Neither one of them were able to hear Jared say 'Finally!' on the other side of his closed door before he put his earphones on and climbed into bed listening to music.

XxXxX

Booth stood in the middle of his room and wasn't sure what to do. Having her there was making him very nervous. _I'm a grown man, I can do this, I'm not fifteen anymore._

"Thank God you're not fifteen." Temperance said as she sat on the mattress.

"What?" Booth surprisingly asked. "Was I speaking aloud?"

"Yes." She answered, smiling, taking place under the dark blue sheets. _Humm...comfortable._

"I'm going crazy..." He said more to himself than to her as he stared at her lying still in his bed. _I'll definitely go crazy. _"I better sleep on the floor." He said as he threw his pillow on the floor and went looking for a blanket.

"Booth, come on!" Temperance protested. "You can't be serious!"

"No, really, the floor will be fine." He said, looking at it trying to convince himself. "I've slept on floors before, I'll be fine."

"Booth! We're not in Iraq! Stop being stupid and come to bed! I 'm not going to attack you even if I'd like to!" She said as she opened the sheets beside her where he was supposed to sleep. He looked at the bed as if it was full of tarantulas and then he looked at her and saw a very irritated Brennan.

"Alright! Alright!" He relented, picking up his pillow. "But don't touch me, okay?" He sounded serious as he said it.

She silently stared at him a long time before she opened her mouth to speak. "I won't, I promise...as long as you don't touch me either." _Because your touch feels like fire._

"I won't as long as I'm awake..."

"Booth..." She started to say.

"I'm serious." He told her as he stared into her eyes.

"I know."

"G'night Bones." He said as he turned his back on her, lying on his left side and hanging on to his pillow as if it was a parachute.

"Good night Booth."

XxXxX

After a few minutes of lying still and listening to each other's breathing, they started to drift away and fell asleep. It was dawn when Temperance heard someone speaking and she opened her eyes. It was still dark in the room but she could see that the sun was about to come up as light was peeking through the window. "Don't do it!" She heard Booth's voice beside her and she turned her head to face him. He was still asleep , but by the look on his face, he wasn't having a nice dream. "Simon!" He cried out loud, sounding scared. "Leave him alone!"

She leaned up on her elbows and silently looked at Booth, who's breathing had become heavier. "You piece of shit!" He said again. "Simon! Don't!"

"Booth." She softly said, trying to wake him up gently as he was twitching in his sleep. She sat up and touched his shoulder. "Booth, wake up." He suddenly opened his eyes, but lay still. She bent down to look at him closer. Something was wrong, she could see it in his eyes. "Booth?" She asked, unsure.

It didn't take five seconds for Booth to grab her by the throat and throw her on the wall, his body in full contact with hers as he pinned her against the wall with one hand, and strangling her with the other one. She tried to scream but she wasn't able to. _Booth! What are you doing?!_ Her feet were not touching the floor and she tried to free herself kicking him, but all of her efforts were in vein. _BOOTH?!_

He knew what he was doing, he had been trained for it. _Booth! Let me go! _She tried to cry out again, but no sound came out of her mouth, so she tried to take his hands off her throat because she was no longer able to breathe and could feel she was only seconds away from fainting. _Booth!?_

"You son of a bitch!" He yelled. "I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU!"

**(TBC)**

I'm writing the next chapter, I AM continuing this story...please, don't give up on me.


	13. The Conversation Room

**A/N **Thank you so much for the nice reviews and the kick in the butt to write more! I'm glad you like my story enough to care that I didn't let it go.

I don't owe anything related to _**Bones**_...alas...and I'm not making a single penny out of this.

If some of you were an _**Alias**_ fan, you know that the Conversation Room was used by our dear Arvin Sloane as the _torture_ room.

XxXxX

_**Not In This Life**_

**Chapter therteen: The Conversation Room**

_Booth's bedroom, around 4:00am_

_Booth! Oh my God! Booth, wake up! You're choking me!_ _I can't breathe! Booth, snap out of it!_ Those were Brennan's thoughts as she tried to free herself once more from her partner's grip. Her feet were high up in the air, so she wasn't able to get a firm grip on the edge of the bed to steady herself. She tried to reach his face with her hands, to touch his arms, shoulders, anything to push him back or punch him, but his arms were longer than hers and she wasn't able to push him back._ God! I can't even poke him in the eye! Booth, wake up!_

"BASTARD!" Booth yelled at her. "You fucking son of a bitch! I swear to God, I'll kill you!"

She could see the look in his eyes, it was empty, glassy, he wasn't directly looking at her, she knew he didn't see her but was looking at someone else...someone he highly despised, someone he hated and someone who had probably been hanting his dreams for a very long time.

_Oh, Booth..._ She sadly thought as she felt herself drift more into the darknessas she realized the scene in which her partner would wake up from: his hands on her throat with her lifeless body in his hands and her eyes blankly staring back at him. As she was thinking this, she saw her brother Russ..._Oh Russ, please don't beat him up_...Then the face of her father appeared to her, HIM, who had sacrificed everything to save her, to save his family...And then her dear friend Angela, who would probably blame Booth forever even if she knew deep inside of her caring and loving heart the inner demons he would be facing every day. _Oh my God...is this it? Is this where I see my life before me, and then I die?_

As she thought that she was living her last second on Earth, she felt Booth's grip lessen on her neck. She was on the verge of loosing consciousness, but she forced herself with all her might to look up. And then she saw...he WAS looking at her. _BOOTH! _His face was a mask of confusion as he expelled a ragged breath.

"Bones...?" He said gruffly as he realized what he was doing and let her go as if he were burned. She immediately fell on the floor and started to cough. "God...Bones..." He said again with a shaky voice. _What did I do?_

_Oh my God! Oh myGod! Oh my God! I'm gonna live!_ She thought as she took her first breath in. She felt as if a dozen blades were cutting her throat and lungs and she started to cough. This is what it must feel like to drown. The noise she was making as she was trying to breathe was one that sounded like someone having a really serious asthma attack. "Water." Was the only word she could whisper as she tried to breathe normally and stop the coughing, but it wasn't working very well.

"Water." Booth repeated as he ran into the kitchen to take a glass of water. _Oh my God! What did I do? _He ran back to his bedroom and gave the glass to Brennan, who was still on her knees and hands, trying to catch a breath._ Oh my God, _he thought, _I can't believe this is happening! I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!_

She took the glass in her shaking hands and tried to take a sip. The cold liquid felt good in her mouth, but as she tried to swallow it, her throat felt as if it had a knot in it and she started to choke, which made the coughing sound worse.

Booth was walking around her, not being able to stop himself. He wanted to help, apologize, he wanted to do something to make her feel better, but he just couldn't bring himself to speak or touch her. _I feel dizzy, nauseated, I'm gonna be sick. _He thought as he sat on the bed, taking his head in his hands, elbows resting on his knees.

_Okay Temperance, just take a breath...that's it, slowly, breathe in, and out...alright...better..._She took another sip of water, and only cough three times after swallowing it. _Good...that's great. _She was still wheezing from the swelling of her throat, but at least she was able to breathe. _Good._

"God Bones, I'm so sorry." He said with a broken voice._ I'm so sorry..._It took all the strength he had within himself to walk towards her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't!" She whispered back at him, her hand pushing him back. She wasn't able to speak since her vocal cords were swollen. Booth thought she almost sounded scared, angry even. He backed away from her and walked out of the room. _Shit! I didn't mean... _"Booth!" She tried to yell after him to come back, but it was in vain; she was barely speaking._ I'm sorry, I didn't want to push you away...it just happened. _

She was sitting on the bedroom floor trying to steady her breathing, her back resting on the side of the bed, when Booth came back. He stood still, not wanting to pass the threshold and looked at her. He could see the marks on her neck where his hand had been strangling her. There were some places where bruises had started to show. _I feel like dying...I deserve to die. _"Bones?" He asked, unsure of himself. She looked up and that's when Booth really saw her face, and gasped. _Please God, just kill me...now._ There were a few veins that had ruptured from the pressure of his hand on her throat, which had probably compressed the jugular and carotid veins, and gave her a vampire-like look since her skin color was so pale. Her eyes were abnormally out of their sockets, and they were equally red, which resulted from the same trauma. He took a deep breath in and started to talk. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Is there ANYTHING I can do? Do you want me to drive you to the hospital?" _Please give me something to do. Anything._

"Do you have ice-cream?" Brennan softly asked, afraid to make a round of coughs start._ It will sooth my throat and vocal cords._

"Sure." He walked to the kitchen. As he was preparing the ice-cream, she stood up and walked to the bathroom. She took a deep breath in when she saw her face in the mirror._ Oh! God...I look terrible! _She started to palp her neck, moved her head from left to right and opened her mouth wide, sticking out her tongue while she tried to take a look inside. _Everything looks alright. _She said to herself as she was swallowing and touching her larynx to feel anything abnormal. _Looks fine. _She sighed and took a good look at herself in the mirror. _This will need good cover-up. Halloween's a few months away..._

"Here." Booth said to her, showing her the bowl of green ice-cream. "Sorry about that, Pistachio is Parker's favorite."

"It's fine." She softly said, taking the bowl from his shaky hands, and trying hard to avoid his eyes. _Don't look up. Don't look up._ "Thank you." She stared ahead as she thanked him, not wanting to see the sadness and despair in his eyes, and walked out of the bathroom. _I'm not sure I can deal with this right now. What will I do? _She sighed again as she sat on the couch and took a full spoon of the very welcomed ice-cream. She could feel his presence a few feet away from her, but didn't dare to look._ Stop staring at me. Just go._ _Please Booth, just go._ She heard him sigh and leave the living room. _Thank you._ She closed her eyes and ate the ice-cream. _Just give me a few minutes, just give me time to adjust. I WILL come see you. Just give me time._

Booth looked at his partner sitting on the couch and didn't dare to speak or walk near her. He could feel she didn't want to be near him right now, and he couldn't really blame her. _I just tried to kill her, of course she hates me. Hell, I hate me. _But despite the fact that he feared touching her after what had happened only a few minutes ago, he NEEDED to touch her, to reassure her, to reassure himself. _What did I do? God...what did I do... _He closed his eyes and turned his back on her, silently walking back to his bedroom. _The almost crime scene. _He snorted as he walked past the threshold and sat on the bed, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands joined in a praying manner as his fingers touched his lips. He took a deep breath in and fought like hell to hold the tears from falling down. _Grown men don't cry... _He wasn't successful and the tears started to fall down on both cheeks, and he just couldn't stop himself as he started to shake. So he leaned forward and rested his head in his hands, cursing the violence in his life, both past and present, and he silently cried, hoping one day, he'd get forgiveness...from God, from Bones, from the ones he killed, and from the future innocent victims he couldn't protect.

XxXxX

Temperance had finished her ice-cream a long time ago and she just sat on the couch, her body comfortably resting on it's back, and she stared into the emptiness and darkness of Booth's living room, not knowing what her next move was going to be. _I need to get up and go talk to him. We need to talk. He must feel awful. I know he didn't mean it, he wasn't REALLY trying to kill ME. But how? How does someone forgive something like that? Is it possible? _She took a deep breath and forced herself up. _I can do this. _

She slowly walked to the bedroom and stopped herself before entering the room. _Oh God..._She thought as she saw him, blankly staring at the wall, his eyes red from the crying he had done and looking as if he didn't have anymore strength within himself. _I've never seen him so...powerless, so...vulnerable. _"Booth..." She tentatively asked, as she made sure that no sound was coming out of her voice to avoid the cascade of coughing. His eyes went into focus and he lifted up his head and looked at her. He seemed surprised.

"You're still here?" He incredulously asked.

"I'm still here." She answered. _I never even thought of leaving._

"I thought you would have left." _I'm not even sure I would have stayed._ "I usually just scream when I have those nightmares, and women run out of here like the French Army."

"I'm not most women." She truthfully reminded him, her voice still a whisper.

"I know." _And thank God for that._ "Oh! Bones, I'm so sorry." He told her with sincerity. "So sorry." _If I could erase all of this, I would._

She stared back at him without blinking and then she sighed deeply. "I know." She walked into the room and sat beside him on the bed. "I know Booth, and I'm sorry about how I reacted earlier." The proximity of their bodies was near, but they weren't touching. She wanted to let him know that she wasn't afraid of him. She turned her head to face him and said: "Do you have those nightmares often?"

"Two...maybe three times a year, sometimes more."

"Did Parker ever-"

"No...no. Thank God he never had to see me like this."_ It would have scared the shit out of him._

_Good._ "Before you started to strangle me...you spoke."

"I did...?" He tentatively asked. "What did I say?" _Was it the first time that I spoke?_

"You used the name Simon, and then you yelled at someone. You sounded VERY angry, but you didn't say HIS name."

"Yeah..."_ Lovely part of my past._

"You didn't seem to like him that much." Brennan said, wanting to make him talk.

"No, I didn't. I still don't." _I loathe that guy._

"You also said you'd kill him." She wanted Booth to talk, but she wasn't sure if it was a part of his life she really wanted to know.

"I did?"

"That's when you started to..." She stopped talking, finding her throat suddenly dry. _God that was awful, I don't want to relive it._ She took a sip of the glass of water that was standing on the night table before putting it back where it was.

"Bones..." Booth started to say, but his voice was trembling. He cleared his throat and took a deep breath. _I knew this day would come. _"I've never told that story to anyone." _But I know you've earned the right tonight._

"I understand." _I know it's hard for you to speak about your time in Iraq._

_Don't speak too fast. _"For someone who doesn't believe in psychology Bones, you sure want me to talk." He said, a fake smile on his lips.

"I just want to understand why you almost killed me tonight." She softly answered, knowing the truth was often hard to swallow, but sometimes had to be said.

"Fair enough." He said as he affirmatively nod his head. "I just want you to know that if you want to leave this house when I'm done-"

"Booth-" She started to object. _I'm stronger then most people think._

"Let me finish. It's important." His voice was firm, and he sounded serious.

"Okay." _Do I really want to know what happened? I said I did, but...Do I?_

"If you want to get out of here without even speaking to me when I'll be done telling this not-so-funny story, feel free to do so." He said as he looked into her eyes. _This may be the last time she agrees to be so near to me._

"O...kay." She reluctantly agreed.

"Even without speaking to me. Just open the door and walk away."

"Booth, stop it."

"I just want you to prepare yourself." _You won't look at me the same way after you know the truth._

"I get it." She said, starting to get a little annoyed. She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Booth, I know it's difficult, but I'm here. Talk to me."

It was now Booth's turn to take a deep breath and he straightened himself, wiping imaginary sweat off his hands as he thought of how to start this story. "I was still in the American Army Rangers when the nine-eleven occurred in 2001. Parker wasn't born yet." He took a pause and then continued. "As I've already told you, I'm a better man because of Parker, I have no idea what would have happened of me if this little boy hadn't been born when he did." He past his fingers through his tick hair and started to talk again. "He made me want to be a better man." He took another pause as he swallowed. "Anyway, we were in Kabul on October seventh, and it was war, pure and simple." He snorted at that. "You attack us, we'll attack you. It's that simple, right? Well, it's not that simple Bones, it's just not."

"I'm sure it isn't."

"To make a long story short, we fought like hell against Al-Quaida and the Talibans. We believed we would be able to defeat them, capture Ben-Laden in no times, we were so stupid and naive...Anyway, we were a group of ten men, and I befriended a guy named Simon Blackburn. We were always near each other, and backed each other if our asses were on the line. We looked for each other, that's what we all did, but Simon and I, we were like brothers.

One day we got captured. It was late at night, and we were going back to our quarters when we got ambushed by Talibans. There were five of us in the truck, Simon and myself included, and we were brought to their Headquarters. Of course we were tortured for information, but after a while, it's hard to go on, to keep fighting. And when I say a while, I really mean weeks, and weeks, and weeks.

_Oh God..._Brennan thought.

Every time they came to take me from my cell to go to the 'Conversation Room', there were always the same man calmly standing in the middle of the room. I had no idea what was his name, or who he was, but I knew he was someone important. I called him 'The General'. There was always a tiny man sitting besides The General who translated in English what The General was saying in Arabic, and the other way around. The General never flinched, blinked, he never moved a muscle and just stood there, his jaw tense, his black eyes staring back at me when I was tortured or beaten to death...well, almost. It did feel like death at some points. I do remember asking God to let me die.

And each time, each day, they would return me to my cell, covered in blood, with two men holding me by the arms because I couldn't walk, exhausted, and badly injured. And every time, I didn't speak. I let them make me think that I would never see the blue sky again. After what I thought was only a few weeks, loosing all sense of time between drifting in and out of consciousness and not seeing the daylight, I started to think that my Unit wouldn't find me, that we were left alone to deal with them." Booth took a deep ragged breath as he remembered that painful time. "Anyway, one day as they were returning me to my cell, I saw that three of the cells next to mine, which contained the men of my Unit, were empty. The doors were open, and it was cleaned out. Simon and I were the only one left and we had no idea where White, Roberts and Ford were. I remember feeling very strange about it and thinking 'This isn't good, this isn't good at all...'

The day after, or so I thought, Simon and I were brought together to The General for conversation. I saw in my friend's face that he didn't know what was going on, and that he was afraid. I was scared too, but I had swore to God that I wouldn't let The General see any sign of weakness or fear from me.

Simon looked at me, I knew he wanted to tell me something, but I stared at him without speaking and made a 'NO' sign with my head for him to keep quiet. The General stood there, grinning stupidly, which he never had before, and then someone opened the door." He stopped talking, suddenly having lost his voice as it cracked, and stared at the empty wall.

"Do you need to stop?" Gently asked Brennan, not knowing what to do as he looked so vulnerable. "We could go on later..."

"No Bones, I have to continue." _Or I may never tell you the truth._

"Oh...Okay." She said.

"Simon and I, we were sitting on a wooden chair in the Conversation Room, with only The General and his translator in front of us when men entered the room from the back door and threw three dead bodies on the floor at our feet. I didn't need to look at them to know they were White, Roberts and Ford, the guys from my Unit. Simon started to shake violently and then to hyperventilate. This is when The General started to speak. He told us that we would end up dead bodies ourselves if we didn't start to speak. That's when Simon started to cry...He was a good man Simon, he had enrolled in the US Army to change things, but I don't think he ever thought that he would see so much blood and violence. He had a wife and two kids, and I know he was thinking of them when he started to cry. I knew he missed them and wanted to see them again and I felt for him. I felt his pain.

At first, Simon didn't speak, but The General knew he was probably more inclined to be the first to do it since he had started to show signs of weakness.

I, on the other hand, didn't have anyone at that time, Rebecca and I were on and off and I didn't have a clue if it would ever work out. Simon had a whole family he loved. I'm not trying to apologize for him, but I understand why he did it. The day I held Parker in my arms for the first time was the day I fully understood you'd do anything for your flesh and blood.

So, The General started to beat the crap out of him, and I stood there, not being able to move since I was tied up to the chair, and watched him being tortured. I think it was worse than actually being beaten myself...

At last, Simon started to speak, and I yelled at him to shut up, but Simon didn't listen to me. I think he wanted to believe the General when he said that if we talked, he would release us...At some point, when you are held captive for so long, and you get so tired, the brain does play tricks on you, and you are not sure what to believe anymore, what is wrong, and what is right start to have shades of gray...so you chose to believe because you just don't have any more strength in you to fight.

Anyway, Simon told The General where our quarters were, and The General took his gun out, smiled at him, and then shot him right between the eyes. One bullet. No warning.

I didn't move, I didn't yell, I just waited...knowing I would be next. At that particular time, I would have welcomed the bullet, because every inch of my body ached. I had multiple fractures...well, you know, you've seen my X-rays...but the fire shot never came. It turns out that the Taliban's Headquarters were attacked by US soldiers at that precise moment, and the General ran out of the room followed by his translator, and then none of the US soldiers were able to find The General anywhere. That's when I swore to God that I'd find him, and kill him."

"And did you?" Tentatively asked Brennan.

"I was brought back to the United States and was in the hospital for the next four weeks. I had lost a lot of weight, you know, as they didn't serve us steak and potatoes when we were held captive, and I had surgeries after surgeries for mostly my knees and ankles, and then I had to go under physiotherapy. It wasn't picnic."

_I bet it wasn't..._Brennan only nodded with a sympathetic face.

Booth repositioned himself on the bed, and he couldn't stop rubbing his hands together as a repetitive gesture that could be mistaken as an obsessive-compulsive behavior. He was nervous about something, and Brennan felt it. "About a year later," He went on, "I had a contract in London-"

"Excuse me, but what do you mean by _you_ _had a contract_?" Asked Brennan.

"Sniper work." Booth simply said.

"Oh..." _Right..._

"I was in London to eliminate someone - forgive me, but I'm forbidden to tell you who it was-"

"It's alright."_ I don't want to know anyway._

"I was trying to locate my target when I saw HIM." There was a distinct look of disgust on Booth's face that couldn't be missed.

"Him?" Brennan asked, a questioning look upon her face.

"The General."

_Oh..._

"I had located my target, and I did my job to extinguish him, but he wasn't the only one. The next day I was supposed to pack my things and come back to the US, but I didn't. Instead, I followed The General, positioned myself and took a clear shot."

_Oh...my...God..._She swallowed, hard.

"It happened so fast, it happened TOO fast." He calmly said to her, avoiding her eyes. "It was too fast for my taste, I wanted to watch him die slowly, but it was done, he was there, his eyes open, the bullet hole in the middle of his forehead, lying still on the groud. I was the one who had ended his life, and I had done it too fast."

_Too fast?!_

"I wanted him to suffer so badly, I remember I felt so much rage. So much anger..." He stared at the wall. Brennan could see the tears on the verge of falling down on his cheeks. "I didn't feel anything afterwards...I thought I would feel relieved, I had my revenge, but I didn't. I felt empty, dead even...but I didn't feel remorse." He turned his head towards Brennan and saw that she had traces of tears on her cheeks. "I didn't feel remorse Bones. I was glad he was dead. I felt happy even. I had killed someone, a bad person, a very very bad person, and I felt good about it."

_Oh Booth..._She said to herself as she saw he was finally crying and reach for his hand and held it tightly.

"What kind of a person kills someone and not feel remorse?" He asked her, half angry, half surprised. "The kind I work my ass off to lock up every week!"

"Booth..." _Oh boy..._

"When I came back to the US, and had a briefing with my superiors. They had heard about the second killing on the news, and knew my history with that man. They asked me once, only once, if I had anything to do with the shooting of The General and I told them '_NO'_ while I stared at them and lied my ass off without blinking." He took a pause before continuing. "I know they didn't believe a word I had said, but they chose to let it go. I didn't get reprimanded, I even had a '_If it had been me, I would have killed the bastard' _from my superior. Gee! I almost got a pat on the back! It made me sick..."

Brennan gave him a sympathetic look as she reached with her other hand to encompass his between both of hers and squeezed comfortingly. _Oh God..._

"It made me sick to my stomach. I felt like I was one of THEM." He looked as if he was about to be sick.

"One of whom?" Asked Brennan, unsure of the answer.

"One of them, the bad guys, the murderers."

"Booth..." She started to say with such empathy in her broken and soft voice that it was too much for him to bear.

"No Bones, don't." He sadly said. "I AM a monster."

"No Booth...you're not." She tried with as much strength in her voice as she could muster, wanting to let him know he was not a monster.

"Tell me Bones, please tell me the difference between those murderers and me...because there are days like today where I just don't see it." He tried to wipe the tears off with the palm of his hand that wasn't held by Brennan. _Look at what I did to you?_

"Booth, look at me." She asked him gently.

"Who DOES a thing like that? My God, look at YOU?! Who does a thing like THIS? How am I supposed to teach my son good values and morals for him to become a good man when I do things like that?" _What a hypocrite!_

"Booth, look at me." She ordered, detangling her right hand she reached up palmed his cheek turning his face towards her. Locking his gaze with hers, he saw something in her eyes he had not expected. "You, Seeley Booth, are the one person in my life right now that matters the most to me. You stood by me even if there were days when I failed miserably at being a human able to show feelings, but you stood beside me, teaching me how to act around people, teaching me to let people in. You are the one who told me what was good to say, and what was not." At that he lightly smiled. "I agree I may not always listen to you on that one, but I always know when I do or say something I should or shouldn't have, because you, Booth, are the voice in my head."

_Oh Bones..._

"I understand why you did it Booth, I may not be necessary okay with all of it, but I DO understand why. That man held you hostage for weeks, and tortured you enough to break a lot of bones in your body, I know...I saw the X-rays, remember?" She was now facing him and held his look. "He killed your friends, your fellow soldiers, and I'm sure a lot more you don't even know. He WAS a bad man Booth, a very bad man, and I know there are morals and ethics in this, but what's a man to do if he is confronted by a very bad person, let's say Hitler for example? What would a good person have done if he or she had crossed path with Hitler? Let him go?"

"No Bones, but really? Hitler and The General? Six millions jews and five millions other ethnic minorities, and The General? Hitler I wouldn't have a problem putting a bullet in his head Bones, it's not the same."

"No, it may not be the quantity and scale, but you are a good man Booth. You made a mistake, a very bad one, yes, but a mistake none the less. And you do feel remorse. Maybe you didn't then, but you do now, that's why you have those nightmares. People having no remorse don't think about their past actions."

"I just tried to strangle you." He sadly told her. "I don't know what I would have done if-"

"You tried, but didn't succeed." She corrected. "I'm here to stay Booth. You can't get rid of me that easily."

"Why are you so understanding? I don't deserve you."

"Let me be the judge of what you deserve or not, alright? I'm not afraid of you Booth, and I'm not going anywhere." She stared at him and smiled. "I KNOW who you are Booth, and you ARE a good man." She softly caressed his cheek, wiping off the wetness let by the tears and slowly moved her fingers towards his lips. She looked up into his eyes again and she brought her lips to his. The kiss was soft, tender and full of emotions. Their lips parted and his tongue slowly made it's way inside of hers, gently exploring as he moved his hands on her arms, moving up to her shoulders. Booth wasn't thinking when he gently and softly caressed her neck, but the simple touch of his fingers on her throat started a sequence of coughs from Brennan who searched for air again.

"God Bones! I'm so sorry!" He said, standing up and looking for his glass of water. "Here." He said as he gave it to her. "I'm so sorry, I didn't think..."

"It's okay. I'm alright. It will just be...sensitive for a few days." She smiled at him but he looked so uncomfortable it made her feel sad. "I'm okay Booth."

"I know. Now. You are okay. But you weren't...then."

"I swear to God I'll never try to wake you up again."

"From now on we'll sleep in separate rooms." He suggested.

"Not a chance in Hell!" She objected, which made him smile for the first time that night.

"No?"

"No." As she said this she saw the sun peak through the window of Booth's bedroom. "What time is it?"

"It's 5:30." He answered after looking at the clock.

"Already?!" She exclaimed. "I have to get ready for work." She added, going in the bathroom.

"I'll go make some coffee...We'll definitely need it." He said as he walked towards the kitchen to make the coffee.

About ten minutes later, he heard the door of the guest room open.

"Hey bro." Jared said, still looking sleepy. He sat on a chair of the kitchen table and yawned. "I didn't get enough sleep."

"Neither did we." Booth said as Brennan entered the kitchen, all dressed up.

"Holy...Mother...of...God..." Jared gasped as he stared at Brennan. "What happened to YOU?"

"Oh..." Brennan started to say, feeling uncomfortable. "That...well, it's-"

"It's my fault." Booth confessed to his brother. "I had a nightmare."

"THE nightmare?" Asked Jared, knowing his big brother had problems with nightmares about the war, but didn't really know what it was truly about.

"Yeah." Booth said. "She tried to wake me up."

"Oh..." Jared looked at Brennan. "Don't do that."

"No kidding!" She answered as she went to look for her purse to get her make-up kit. "Didn't you hear anything? I'm sure we made quite some noise."

Jared looked embarrassed and nervously laughed. "I thought you two were...you know...doing it."

"We weren't." Brennan confirmed.

"I just thought you liked it rough." Jared added as he received a slap in the back of the head from his brother. "Hey!"

"Stupid." Booth told him before walking to his bedroom to change. "Lock the door on your way out." He added two minutes later as they left the house.

XxXxX

They arrived at the Jeffersonian Institute shortly after 6:30. Brennan slid her card to walk up the stairs and turned towards Booth.

"I'll explain to them what happened...leaving the details out of course. I'll just say you had a nightmare about the war and was sort of...sleepwalking."

"Okay."

They first saw Angela as they walked into the lab. She started to walk towards them but stop when she saw Brennan's face. Temperance had really tried to cover it all up with make-up, but her eyes weren't mistaken since they were bloody from the veins ruptures. "Oh my God." Angela said.

"No Ange, it's not what you think." Brennan started to say, eager to explain.

"It's not?" She asked, looking very angrily at Booth. "Who would have thought?" She added, sounding very concerned.

"It's not what -" Booth started to explain when Hodgins walked in on them.

"Woah!" He surprisingly said, his own eyes bulging out of their sockets as he looked at Brennan. "What the HELL?" He asked, staring at both Brennan and Booth, and then at Angela.

"Don't ask me." Said the brunette. "But it better be a really good one. Like a sex game or something, because this girl-" and as she said this she pointed her face, "is gonna kick your ass." She finished, staring at Booth without blinking.

"Count me in." Said Hodgins, as the rational thought escaped his brain completely.

"A sex game?" Asked Brennan as she turned towards Booth. "What?"

"Don't ask me." He answered defensively to Brennan. "Just thinking that me trying to choke you to death and sex game can be in the same sentence is way too much for me." He remarked with distaste.

"WHAT?" Yelled Angela. "You tried to choke her to death?" Her tone was incredulous, and her face in shock.

"Alright. That's it." Hodgins said, positioning himself between the FBI Agent and the Forensic-Anthropologist.

"Jack." Booth started to say.

"Oh, don't Jack me." Hodgins answered, looking angry. "You know, I AM a peaceful man, I don't get in fights anymore, I used to when I was a teen, but not anymore, I deal with it." As he said it he snapped the rubber band that was on his wrist. "But there are just things that I WON'T tolerate, and that's a man beating up his girl."

"Wait a minute-" Booth objected.

"Did you or didn't you choke Dr. Brennan?" Hodgins asked. Booth stared at Brennan who looked helpless and then at Angela and Hodgins, who looked angry. He sighed.

"Yes, but-"

"That's it!" Hodgins said, rolling up his sleeves and positioning himself as a professional boxer would in a ring, ready to fight. Booth stared at the entomologist and couldn't suppress a laugh.

"Are you serious?" Booth asked as he took a step forward, having no desire of fighting him.

"I'm serious!" Warned Hodgins. "Don't come closer! I'm not kidding!"

"Seriously Jack-" Booth started to say but didn't have time to react as Hodgins fist came right between his eyes and knocked him dazedly to the floor. "I may be one foot smaller than you, but I can kick your ass if I have to!" He proudly said to Booth, who was still lying on the floor.

"Hodgins!" Brennan said, looking horrified. "Booth! Booth!" She asked, as he was regaining his faculties. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Bones." He answered, looking dizzy as he tried to stand up.

"Wow Jack...that was sexy." Angela told the entomologist.

"Thanks." He answered back, grinning, before he turned towards Booth. "You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"I am, but not for the reasons you think." Booth ran his hand over his face, rubbing the spot that was starting to bruise.

"God Booth, I'm sorry." Brennan said to him. "I didn't think he'd really do it." She shot a glaring look at Hodgins.

"It's okay, I'm glad he did. He's a good friend." He said before he walked away, looking as if his puppy had died. "I'll talk to you later."

"He didn't deserve that, you should be ashamed of yourself!" She told Hodgins as she watched Booth open the front door of the Jeffersonian Institute and disappear. "But thank you for thinking you needed to defend me, BUT you know Booth would NEVER purposely harm me, there were extenuating circumstances. Not that I want to get into Booth's personal life, it's not my place, but he was...sleepwalking and mistook me for someone from his past. I woke him before any real harm came to me." She said as convincingly as possible. _God I hope they're believing this! _"Really guys, it's not as bad as it looks, you know the skin on the head and neck show more trauma then there truly is--I'm fine. And Booth is really shook up about it so PLEASEdon't make him feel any worse than he already does." With that she tugged both of them into her arms and hugged them tightly. "Thank you again."

Angela and Hodgins looked at each other with incomprehension as they both hugged her back.

**(TBC)**

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